Freedom
by J Luc Pitard
Summary: Alucard is offered his freedom. Some violence, mild sexuality and profanity. This was my first fan fic, set in anime-verse. Completed Story
1. Freedom Chapter 1

Freedom Chapter 1

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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_Damn these blood bags...cold...and now nearly empty_. Alucard roared and threw away his third bag. The stone wall above the trash can had long since ceased to soak in the dark red liquid. It dribbled slowly down along a well-worn path towards the metal bin. Alucard eyed the wall with disgust. He longed for a fight and the chance to rip the throat out of an enemy. A sigh escaped as he shook himself from the thought.

Boredom is the price of immortality, he told himself. Then he half smiled as he remembered the true price he had paid to gain his place as no-life king. So very many years ago. Almost involuntarily, his hand traced the line of his neck. No scars. No marks of any sort defiled his perfect body. He relaxed his mind and let his body slip away entirely. The night had begun and Alucard decided to go greet the moon.

He rose from his stone room, soaking in the details of a normal evening at Hellsing Manor.

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She felt a shiver run up her spine. Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing sat at her large mahogany desk reading Scottish police reports. Nothing abnormal in them at all. She took off her glasses, rubbed the bridge of her nose and picked up another stack of documents. Integra considered closing the windows. A cool wind touched her face as she looked over her shoulder at the balcony. She sensed the light touch of Alucard's mind. Annoyance shot through her. She knew it would do no good. "He's just checking moods, not poking about in my thoughts." She said, trying to calm herself. Still, he knew how to push her buttons. Damn him!

She rose and stalked toward the balcony. The curtains shifted in the light breeze, but the moonlight revealed it to be empty.

Still, she'd learned quite a bit in the ten years since she'd found him in the dungeon. An emotionally numb shell of a little girl meeting a dry husk of a corpse. Ten long years ago.

She stood and waited. The moon was full. Integra rarely let herself admire the night. It held few mysteries for her. Her father had taught her at a young age that she needed to master the night or it would master her. Since then, she'd come face to face with true evil. As she thought of the devil, he began to solidify in front of her. His black hair fell over the collar of his red duster. His back to her, he seemed to glory in the sight of the moon hanging just over the horizon, looking as big as the sky itself.

"What a beautiful night," he turned slightly to smile at her over his shoulder, "my Master." She looked into his wild red eyes and felt her pulse begin to race. The familiar feeling fluttered deep in her belly. His voice was like falling into deep velvet. He could almost purr when he chose to. He often chose to when they were alone.

"What do you want, Alucard." Phrased as a question, but spoken as a rebuke. Integra had discovered, years ago, how to control her breathing to get her heart rate back under control. He could sense pulse rates and she did not like to give him the pleasure of getting under her skin. He was a tool to use in the fight against unholy demons. Her family's crowning glory was in the harnessing and enhancing of his power. Many times she'd wanted to ask him about that, but this was neither the time nor the place.

"Orders." He moved languidly to the stone balustrade and posed, distractedly looking at the moon, while able to keep an eye on Integra. She turned her back to him and pushed aside the curtain to return inside. He was suddenly in front of her, smiling his wide smirk and blocking her way.

She held her fear and let her temper rise instead. "Alucard!" She snarled, "Do you mind?"

"Of course, Master." He turned, with a low flourish, backing into the large study. Walter entered through the study doors. He greeted Alucard with a nod and stood by Integra's desk.

Ever the perfect butler, Alucard snorted to himself. Walter C. Dornez had retired gradually to raise Integra once Alucard returned to be Hellsing's Trashman. From primary warrior to nanny and then to butler, quite a career, thought Alucard. He watched as the young man he had fought Nazis with half a century ago withered into this aged creature before him. Alucard was comforted to think that he had chosen something better for himself.

Integra strode over to Walter. There were printouts from several police forces scattered in the space between her computer and the remnants of tea. Integra sat down at her keyboard and several pages slid to the floor. Alucard moved to the desk and looked over them.

"Hmmm, cockroach activity in several cities." He murmured, pushing the papers along the carpet with his boot. "Good training, perhaps?"

Integra gave him a neutral look, and then drew his attention to the monitor. "What do you think of this coverage?"

On the screen was a map of Great Britain, overlaid on this was a web of dots and lines. When Alucard narrowed his eyes, the webs formed a cross with a ball at the bottom. He flexed his white-gloved hands, eyes widening in surprise. Integra was looking very intently at him, searching for the reason for his unease.

He composed his face again, sliding his yellow sunglasses on. "Orders, Master?" His defenses were back in place.

"What is it, Alucard?" Integra challenged. "What do you see?"

He hesitated just a beat. "A map of your country. Where do you want us to start cleaning?"

She considered pushing him, but decided to wait until she could discuss this with Walter. It was rare to see anything fluster Alucard, and she did not want to give away that she had no idea why.

"You will each go with a team and take out the ones near the Royal Palace and the prince's home." She looked from the map to Alucard. "Obviously, this must be kept discreet." He nodded, turned and dissolved through the wall.

Integra looked at Walter, who raised his eyebrows. He walked around the desk to look at the monitor. He had looked at it earlier, but hadn't seen any organized pattern. He kept pacing backwards until he was about halfway across the room. Walter removed and replaced his monocle.

"I believe the cross shape disturbed him," he observed. On his way to the dungeon, Alucard laughed to himself.


	2. Freedom Chapter 2

Freedom Chapter 2

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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Wind whipped Seras' hair as she waited on her perch. Ghoul attacks had been reported in the area, but the night was calm so far. She licked her lips. Her troops were arranged below the building in a wide perimeter of the suspected infestation. In the newly reorganized Hellsing, she was rewarded with a troop of mercenaries, The Wild Geese. Her master had a smaller group of more traditional Hellsing soldiers. The mercenaries were less disciplined and their captain was a bit of a loon, but she liked them well enough. Integra must have some faith in her after all to give her a command of her own.

Seras Victoria liked to think of herself as a soldier, not a servant, of the Hellsing Organization. She was a servant, just not theirs. Her allegiance was to her master, Alucard. That made her servant to a monster, who was servant to the head of Hellsing. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure that was any better.

She swallowed away the thought. "Concentrate, Seras", she thought. Men's lives depended on her. She took a deep breath and tried to sense any undead activity. There!

"Squad B, the Grace of God and Her Majesty the Queen be with you, Amen" she called on the radio, "Ghouls to the right." Her troops turned in time to begin firing.

Ghouls are both the tools of and the residue from vampires. They were what her police unit had become after the vampire priest of Cheddar had attacked them. The night she'd died. Seras shared her master's disdain for newly turned vampires who killed for fun and for FREAKS, humans who were infected, not by vampires, but by human created microchips that spread in the blood. The microchip seemed to be able to emulate the vampire state, but without the full powers. She wondered which they were dealing with tonight.

Only one way to find out, she thought as she leaped down from the rooftop. The ghouls had been disposed of by neat headshots and she complimented her men on that. She tossed her 30mm Anti-Midian cannon, Harkonnen, onto her shoulder as she led them down the alley where the ghouls had come from.

Killing ghouls was relatively easy with a gun, if you knew the target zones, but they were stronger than humans and felt no pain. Serious trouble in hand-to-hand combat. They also tended to travel in packs. Seras expected more along any time. What she didn't expect was an intelligent ambush. A gunshot rang out as a sharp eyed mercenary saw the first ghoul move out from a darkened doorway. Soon they were all engaged as nine ghouls rushed them from all directions.

The alleyway wasn't that wide and they were all going for clean kills to avoid friendly fire. Seras was unable to use her mortar rounds on them, so she went with her handgun, the modified .454 Casull. All of the troops were supplied with silver rounds and she had some of the custom blessed ones that her master favored. Ghouls were easy to kill with such bullets, but they were still messy. As the heads and chests exploded around them, Seras and the troops were smeared with blood, flesh and brain matter. Muttered complaints began as the ghoul threat died away. Seras held up her right hand and they silenced. I see the puppets, she thought, but where is the vamp? On their own, ghouls could not have thought of an alley ambush, or of using a gang to lead the troops into it. I should have been trying to sense more, she thought and she concentrated again. Her newly developing powers were still a bit shaky, but she felt some undead movement on the rooftop as well as in an old building up a head. The feeling was stronger for the rooftop, but a little voice told her that there were fewer there. Maybe that meant that the vamp or vamps were there?

"All right," she radioed, "I want a force of twelve taking out the undead in that building ahead. Put a few guards outside the doors and be careful. The rest of us..." She pointed to the fire ladders on the building to her left.

Seras hoped she was right as she leaned down for a flying leap to the top of the three-story building. She smiled as she enjoyed her new strength. Seras had traded her humanity for these new abilities; she might as well get some enjoyment from them.

There was a strange tightening in her thoughts as she landed.

"Master?" She asked mentally, as she looked around.

Laughter greeted her instead of an answer. The tightening released and she shook her head as she continued to look for the source of the laughter.

"You might well call me that, girl..." a male voice called out. She strained her eyes and caught a glimmer near one of the pipes that vented on the roof. She shot at it without thinking.

"Hey, that stings!"

Good, she'd guessed correctly.

A shape began to form and she took cover behind a small satellite dish.

Seras wanted to take him out quickly so that he would release control of the ghouls that she knew her troops would be about to encounter.

Her backup men were silently moving up the fire escapes and would be just a minute or so away. If there was nothing for them to do, so much the better. Truth was, she really hated putting them in jeopardy. Master Alucard hated that weakness in her, but then again, he hated all of her weaknesses.

She shrugged and took aim again at the figure striding towards her. Head or heart wounds worked well with these lesser vampires. Of course, they would do nothing but slow down a nosferatu. He slowed down when two more of her blessed bullets hit him.

"This is not a good way to start off!" He taunted. He took a few steps back and two new vampires came up on either side of him. They moved to support him, but he waved them away.

Seras tried to switch from her pistol to the Harkonnen as quietly as she could. The first of the Hellsing mercenaries was low crawling across the tarpaper roof to the nearest chimney. Usually, she didn't like running with the cannon loaded, but now she was glad it had an armor piercing incendiary round ready.

The main vampire moved forward into a pool of moonlight. Blond hair, medium height and almost pudgy in his casual attire, he just didn't look that threatening to Seras. Still looks can be deceiving, she thought as she sighted him down the Harkonnen. As she fired, a look came over his face and he seemed to disappear. The two vampires she had seen earlier really did disappear, but not due to any magic, they caught the full force of the special cannon rounds. Clothing and internal organs flew out, and then just dust remained where they had been.

Anger flashed through her, but it wasn't hers. Pudgy, her nickname for the head vamp, was either intentionally flashing his feelings at her or was so angry he was leaking mental energy. She couldn't see him, but she could feel that he was still close. Her troops were now in place and they looked to her for a signal, but what could she tell them? The enemy had flown the coop.

Gunshots now rang out from the building at the end of the alley. From the sound of it, the ghouls were getting torn up. She radioed for info and Captain Bernadette responded that they had lost one man, but he was confident they would cleanse the building. She sighed and looked down. She hated losing anyone.

Suddenly her hands were torn away from the cannon and pinned behind her back. Pudgy had materialized directly behind. He put his back to the nearest standpipe and shouted for her troops to throw down their weapons.

Seras hoped they wouldn't without her direct order.

"Come on boys, you don't want to see her die do you?" He laughed at his joke and twisted her arms up higher, causing her to wince. He had lifted her off the ground and the full weight of her body was resting on her pinned arms.

"Hold your fire, but keep positions." She commanded. Having seen how easily he transformed, even with silver bullets in his chest, she knew he must be pretty powerful. She could feel his strength and knew she was couldn't match it.

"I came to talk," he hissed into her ear, "but you had to go and kill my children."

She said nothing but she concentrated on the people he had turned into ghouls and sent after other innocent victims. Did they die just to get Hellsing's attention? She thought about how best to hit Pudgy and make it hurt.

"You'd better hope your master is being more reasonable." He reached around to pull her Casull from her shoulder holster. Since he'd moved her arms over to one hand to do it, she lurched around, losing the gun, but at least freeing her arms. She backed away from him, looking down the barrel of her own gun. Thank God it's not the cannon, she thought. Not that I can survive one of our rounds at close range anyway. What a waste of an undead life.

One of her men took the initiative and emptied a clip into the nosferatu. He wailed, dropped her gun and disappeared into the night.

Seras nodded her thanks to the soldier. They all did area sweeps as they approached her.

"Status report" she radioed.

"All clear" the troops from inside reported.

"Form up and let's get the hell out of here" she kneeled down to holster her gun and pick up the cannon. One soldier bent down to help her lift it. She laughed at the gesture, but was surprised to find that she really did need some help. Her knees were weak and she leaned up against the cool metal standpipe. Seras made a mental note to thank the whole unit tomorrow with a case of beer.

One of the soldiers looked over the ledge and signaled that they should go down. She nodded and took a deep breath. She didn't want to risk jumping with her legs feeling weak, so she went down the ladders with them. A stretch of her mind revealed no other undead in the vicinity.

Once on the ground a thought occurred to her..."Master?"


	3. Freedom Chapter 3

Freedom Chapter 3

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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Ghouls entered the room in a rush of shuffling, pushing and groaning. The zombies in front fell and piled up in front of the ones clawing through the broken door to get to their assigned victim. Alucard stood with his head cocked slightly to the side, black hair falling rakishly over one eye. A large relaxed smile on his face, as he hummed a snippet from Vivaldi over and over. His hands were in motion, but his body was just bracing for the blow back of his 13 mm Anti-Freak combat pistol, Jackal. Reloading with clips from some mysterious pocket, he looked completely relaxed. Alucard was engaged in his favorite occupation. Killing. At least that's the way it looked to the vampire that was trying to sneak up behind him. He felt that she was a full blood vamp, a bit young, but surely she had some basic powers by now. There was a slight tickle against his mind.

Mental powers? Good, he thought. The black wall of his psyche blocked her, but it amused him that she'd try.

As she was still a few soft slippered feet away, he turned his head just a bit to look at her over his shoulder. The last few ghouls were about to die, but he didn't dare turn away from them altogether. Ghoul bites were annoying after all.

"Hmmm, here to play games little girl?" He asked her with a leer. She must've been quite stunning in life. She moved like a model advertising expensive lingerie, not a vampire about to attack. Dark hair cut in an expensive fashion set off her dark eyes.

"No, master Alucard, I'm here to offer you freedom." She bowed her head to avoid contact with his eyes, but he sensed that she believed the crap she said. She seemed to be ever posing, in a sexual, but not quite lurid manner.

"You're not of my lineage, why call me master?" He couldn't help but be intrigued. He turned to face her. She might well be someone's servant, but he had his hands full already.

Rather than answer, she turned her back to him, raised her head over her shoulder and slowly dropped her red robe. She was entirely naked, but quite comfortable in her pale olive skin. Alucard was not staring at her exquisite body, however, but at the strategically placed tattoo on her lower spine. St. George's Cross over a circular dragon eating its tail. His eyes narrowed to slits and he hissed softly. The Cross appeared to be freshly tattooed, but the dragon had healed. He suspected that the Cross would never heal as it was on unclean flesh. That must be a true burden for her, he thought.

As he had lowered the Jackal and ceased all motion, she glided in front of him and kneeled.

"A sign of respect, only, Sir." She looked up at him with the same sexual grace she had earlier exhibited. Face open, no longer pensive. Now her eyes sought his. "My master wishes to discuss freeing you from your burdensome curse."

Alucard said nothing.

"You are too fine a creature to continue as a dog enslaved to that house. Your master has no progeny yet and no relatives close enough to control you, " she purred. His eyes clouded back to their usual semi-maniacal manner. Ah, he thought, someone else wishes to control me.

"You have delivered your message, girl. What now?"

"You may take me here or kill me, my liege." His eyes widened at this. She was his target and he would have had to kill her, but to have her offer herself so? Where was the challenge in that? Her eyes were still locked onto his and if she noticed the Jackal he pointed at her temple, she did not betray that knowledge. The gun fell with a loud clatter, but she kept her gaze even with his.

Alucard reared back and gave a laugh. "An invitation to meet would have cost your master less dearly. Ah," he said softly "but you are a brave one," Placing his white-gloved hands on either side of her face, he kissed her lightly on her lovely, open and expectant mouth. Then, with one smooth move, he snapped her neck and wrenched it from her body. He brought her head up so his eyes could keep looking into hers as her body slid down the length of his, then she was just dust on his hands. He closed his eyes; savoring the quick death he was able to give her. When he opened his eyes, he looked straight into the confused eyes of a Hellsing trooper.

"Target eliminated." He said dusting the remnants off of his clothes. The trooper nodded dumbly, although Alucard hadn't addressed himself to the soldier. The radio crackled to life in the man's ear, startling him. Alucard heard the trooper's thundering heart, but the face was hidden in his stocking mask.

"Team A, return to base" came the command.

"Better run along home," Alucard said to the man, his head tilted slightly and an evil grin seemed to add, "_Before I kill you, too_." The soldier, no doubt one of Hellsing's best, thought Alucard, turned and ran until he found his mates. Alucard's laughter rolled through the doorway after him.

Alucard knelt; dusting off his gun, smile still on his face.

"Master?"

_Yes, Police Girl?_

"Master, I met an old vampire and he indicated you might be in some type of trap and we lost him...are you all right?"

_Yes, Police Girl. You will give your report to me only. Now._

Seras stood still as she remembered all that had transpired.

_That's fine, Police Girl. We'll try some training after we clean our weapons._

"Thank you, Master."

Alucard was gone and there was nothing to indicate what had gone on but piles of corpses, dust and clothing.

Seras went back to Hellsing with the troops. Questions filling and spinning around inside her head.


	4. Freedom Chapter 4

Freedom Chapter 4

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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The dark stone stairs leading to the dungeons were cool and comforting to Seras as she lugged her cannon down. She wanted to clean up first, but Alucard and Walter were already in the weapons room. The sound of Thelonius Monk's piano greeted her in the doorway. This room was Walter's outpost in the dungeon and he had sole control over the stereo.

Walter had laid out all of the cleaning supplies in tidy rows along the heavy wooden table and retreated to his drafting table. Seras gently sat the cannon on the floor in front of her master's chair and she took her place on the stone floor to clean the firing mechanism and barrel. Alucard began to take apart and clean his two guns lovingly. He would reach down to stroke Seras's hair periodically. That was a new, but strangely familiar gesture. It reminded her of what her father would do when they watched television together. To Walter, it looked much like a gesture Alucard would have done with his wolves or dogs in days long gone by. Walter turned back to his latest design for a more powerful, yet compact gun for Lady Integra. He loved designing for the vampires, as their strength relieved him of the worry about blow back or weight.

Still, looking at Seras and Alucard, he had to be amused at the odd tableau. They were both lost in their own worlds as they cleaned their instruments of death. He took pride in the guns he made for them and in their love of the guns. Odd indeed.

Seras Victoria got up off the floor and stretched in a long and languid motion. Walter was unaware of the dreamy look on his face. He noticed how she filled out the uniform's fabric. It threatened to give out from the stress of her curves. 'Pert' and 'young' were the words that came to his mind.

Alucard had an altogether more sinister look on his face, but he wasn't the one who flinched away when they caught one another's eye.

Seras pulled her Casull from its holster and looked at it like it was foreign to her. She placed it on the table and began to assemble the cleaning rod. She looked down the barrel before ramming the rod home, thinking about the vampire drawing her own gun against her. The nerve!

"What?" She asked as she noticed both men were looking in her direction. Walter blushed slightly as he turned back to his table. Alucard rose and put his guns, all oiled and ready, back into whatever pockets they lived in.

"I believe we were going to continue your training tonight?" Alucard walked around behind Seras and suddenly her hands felt restricted behind her.

"Master... what?" Her face went white and she tried to look behind her at Alucard. His face was a cruel mask. She looked at Walter, who had begun to rise.

"Miss Victoria? Alucard?" Walter looked at them both, knowing there would be little he could do at this age if Alucard decided to kill her. Still, his face went steely and a glimmer of light caught in his gloved hands.

"Stand down, old Death," Alucard said calmly. Seras was trying to wiggle her arms free and realized she was tied with leather, but how had he done that so quickly?

Walter and Alucard stared at each other a few odd seconds before Alucard said, in an almost pleasant manner, "This is for Police Girl's improvement, I assure you..." he cocked his head to the side, listening, "I believe Sir Integra needs your assistance. Right now."

Slowly, Walter nodded and the tension seemed to ease out of the room. Walter turned off the CD and began to leave. Not a good thing, thought Seras. She began to struggle again against the straps and against Alucard's hands, which dug into her biceps firmly.

"She is in the library." Alucard said to the retreating form.


	5. Freedom Chapter 5

Freedom Chapter 5

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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Alucard hissed at her to release the bonds on her own. "Think your way out of them." He increased the pressure on her arms until she was sure he would crush them.

"Master, please stop. You're hurting me." Her arms were throbbing from the vampire attack that evening.

"That, my pet, is the point." Seras felt tears welling up, but fought them back. She didn't eat well normally and losing any blood, even through her tears, seemed like a very bad idea right now.

"Did your enemy tonight stop because he was hurting you?" Alucard was keeping his voice very low. "Could you ask an enemy to please unbind you?"

_THINK!_ He shouted into her mind, but he did release her arms. He walked around her, appraising her. She was sure her weakness was disgusting him.

He came around behind her and put his arms through her bound ones. He gripped her to him at her waist. It was the most unexpected thing he could've done and she gasped.

Her bound hands were up against fabric on his thighs. He pushed his face into her neck and they stood that way for a full minute. He seemed to breathe her scent in and out. Breathing is not a necessary thing for vampires, except to speak, but was still habit for Seras. For Alucard, breathing like a living creature was an affectation, to put humans at ease. He rarely did it.

"Police Girl," he murmured softly to her right ear, nuzzling it. "Your fantasies are like your nature. They are naïve, innocent and reek of your humanity." Seras said nothing. She was actively trying not to breathe. His tongue flicked along her neck. He had her utterly confused. He exhaled softly into her ear and her body reacted. Alucard began to stroke her firm stomach through her uniform.

"I could please you here, now," he paused to let his words sink in. His gloved hands traced a line up to her full breasts, teasing them lightly, then down along her short uniform skirt. Both of his hands now under her skirt as his fingers gently traced circles on her inner thighs. She moved against him, this time not struggling. Alucard pulled back. He turned her to face him. She felt, rather than heard him say, "but to please me, Seras Victoria, you need to attain your full powers and exceed my expectations."

Seras looked into his hungry red eyes. She nodded slightly and moved her arms to hug herself. She felt that she must look like a fool to him, but it was important that she understand this. He wanted her to fully become a monster, like himself.

Alucard watched her and he spoke, still softly, "Interesting." His gaze was cold, appraising again, but there was a hint of approval now. She looked down at her hands and then at the straps on the floor.

She looked up and he laughed. "I doubt an enemy would make such an offer, Police Girl. You will need to find another way out next time."

Seras was still confused about how she'd managed it, but decided that this would be a good time to stop this lesson. She moved to her weapons, but Alucard took her Harkonnen and put it on his own shoulder as she holstered her sidearm. He put his other hand on the small of her back. Without another word they left the room and walked down to her room side by side. Seras was glad that he was touching her, she had often longed for it, but she was unclear if the understanding he seemed to think they had was possible.

Waiting on the wooden table was a medical bag of blood, resting in a wine bucket. She had ignored it when she awoke that evening. Walter was always so careful about the presentation, and it did look appealing...but it also represented her new state.

Her master had set the cannon down and turned to watch her. His gaze was unblinking and unnerving.

"Um, would you mind turning..." He was so unpredictable right now that she worried he might fly into a rage, but he turned and pretended to be interested in the cross design on her wooden coffin.

As his finger traced along the wood grain, he flexed his mind slightly and entered her consciousness. Her hunger and bloodlust excited him, but the taste of the cooled blood was not satisfying. It took the edge off of her frenzy, though and he stayed in her mind as she surreptitiously looked back at him. Mirrors were never his friends, but seeing himself through her mind was also humbling. He was everything she feared, hated and, equally disturbing, loved. She had such power inside her that it sang out to him, but she refused it because she refused to be like him. A monster. Such a waste!

Alucard broke the connection.

"Dawn approaches, Police Girl," his lip curled into a snarl, "You'd better get to your bed." She drew back slightly as he approached, the taste of blood threatening to rise in her throat. Alucard placed his gloved hands on either side of her face. The reminder of his earlier kill pleased him as he leaned down and looked into her eyes. In place of the bravery of the beautiful vampire, he saw trust. How childlike, he thought as he placed a soft, gentle kiss on Seras's surprised mouth. "Sweet dreams." His voice hung in the air as his body disappeared into the stone wall behind her.

As she nestled into her casket, Seras smiled at the better memories of the night. Alucard breathing gently on her neck, his touch, his kiss, and she wondered what he would've done if she'd insisted that he prove how he could please her.

Here.

Now.


	6. Freedom Chapter 6

Freedom Chapter 6

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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Sir Integral Hellsing did not believe in the healing powers of sleep. Walter was not surprised to see that she had been up and reading for some time when he brought in her morning tea.

"Thank you, Walter," she said absentmindedly as she flipped a page. She wasn't yet fully dressed, but lacked only her cravat and jacket. Her bedroom was almost indistinguishable from her office, except for the presence of her bed and a few personal items. One of them was a picture of her mother and she. Her only memories of her mum were from photos. He remembered sitting on the bed with her as she cried many mornings away when she first took over the Hellsing Organization. The nightmares had almost overwhelmed her young mind, but they had also helped to make her tough. Well, he, Alucard and fighting an untold number of real monsters had helped.

Integra looked up at him from her desk. "What do you make of all this, Walter?"

"Sorry, ma'am?"

"Alucard's strangeness." His eyebrows rose slightly, as if to ask what was strange about vampires behaving strangely. Still, staring down Alucard last night had been a bit out of the ordinary, at least for the last thirty years.

"His report last night was quite dry." She read, "Special agent A reported that he arrived on the scene prior to our troops. Approximately 20 ghouls killed outside and 10 more inside. 1 vampire in area, neutralized. When questioned about information obtained in search, agent indicated there was nothing and exited. "She dropped the paper.

Walter noted that Alucard had not gone into any details of the deaths, something he often relished. Integra or Walter had to reduce the reports to manageable lengths before entering them into the secret records.

She began again, "Special agent B with her unit of mercenaries," she looked at Walter, "engaged approximately 5 ghouls in location 1, 10 waited in ambush at location 2 and were eliminated. 3 vampires engaged in location 3 by special agent B, 2 eliminated. 3 troops reinforced and 1 vampire escaped injured. Approximately 15 ghouls cleansed by unit in location 4. 1 troop lost during engagement prior to extraction of all troops."

"Is he hiding something?" Walter hoped he was wrong. These were routine kills, though. "Or bored by the lack of a good challenge?"

"Yes." She looked out the window. The weather was holding out for mostly sunny, but not particularly warm. Spring was never predictable in England. By fits beautiful, then horrible. She rose to finish dressing. Walter moved to help her with her jacket.

Integra was fanatic about her personal space, except with Walter and Alucard. One because she needed him, and the other because it didn't matter, he would invade her space whether she allowed him to or not.

"How is Seras Victoria? Her troops received a case of beer today and Captain Bernadette reported that she was shaky last night after that vamp gave her a scare."

Walter wasn't sure quite how to answer. Straightening her cross, he settled on, "She is receiving extra training due to that."

"Ah?" Integra, now feeling fully dressed, began to sort through her tea and decide what to nibble on. Eating, like sleeping, was just a necessity to her. If her body didn't demand it, she would go long periods without either.

There was a knock and a young woman moved to Walter to whisper, then exited. Integra chewed her toast while she waited for him to explain.

"Sir, there is a Hellsing officer, who requests to speak with you."

"Bring him to the study." She certainly wouldn't entertain soldiers in her bedroom.

"Of course." Walter left, grateful of the interruption.


	7. Freedom Chapter 7

Freedom Chapter 7

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

Since the disaster of the Valentine Brothers attack on Hellsing Manor, Integra had been forced to recruit troops that weren't exactly up to the traditionally high standards of the Hellsing Organization. The soldier who stood before her was an exception. The Royal Order of Protestant Knights had flagged his file for her and the handful of Hellsing commanders had been sufficiently impressed. So what he had to say came as a shock.

"Sir, I regret that I can no longer remain in your employ." His face was blank. When he'd first walked in, he'd looked pale and a bit unsure of himself.

"Please, sit down Waltham." Integra said with a matching blank look.

He looked down and scuffed his feet. He was a large man, though he stood only five foot ten. His generally easy going demeanor hid the tough training and experiences he'd had.

Integra noted that he was still standing as she picked up his personnel file and read aloud "You joined the Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps at the age of 10 and stated that you wanted to be a commando," she smiled and looked at him, "many children do, of course," looking back at his records, she continued, "but you became a cadet and rushed through the training. That was some 30 years ago. You saw action," her finger ran down the long list of covert and non-covert offensives in his records, "until retiring and entering MI-5's service." She looked up at him to see if anything she'd said would bring a reaction.

He had studied her face as she was reading, but now was noting the craftsmanship of the carpenters who made the desk.

An uncomfortable silence developed. Integra let it grow and bloom. His background was impeccable and his training here had been encouraging, what had gone wrong?

Walter entered through the side doors and Waltham jumped slightly. Integra raised an eyebrow. Walter set down the large silver tray and began to pour for Integra.

"Coffee?" She offered. See? We can be civilized, she thought to herself.

He nodded gratefully and seemed to relax just a touch.

As Walter and Waltham exchanged the cups and accouterments, Integra noted that Waltham was assigned with Alucard's unit.

Walter settled himself in a chair beside the door. Waltham was blowing lightly into his coffee to cool it. His first sip helped him to find his nerves again.

"Sir Hellsing," he started, "I know my own history, but I do not believe I am a good fit with your operation." He had been thinking about what to say from the moment the transport arrived back at the manor. He couldn't sleep at all. Truth be told, he was sure he'd awaken to find an enraged vampire at his throat. When daylight stole in, he thought maybe he'd been a bit childish, but the chill remained in his bones. He'd slept with his old gold cross around his neck, and found a new one on the side of his bunk in the morning. No one would take credit for putting it there, but he knew someone was taunting him for running from the vampire.

"You've been with us for three months and been on four cleansing operations?" Integra's eyes were trying to bore through him and he almost fidgeted.

"Yes, sir."

"Then please, do tell me why you only now realize you are not a good fit!" She slammed her fist down.

Waltham knew the fault was his. He'd go back to MI-5 with his tail between his legs. This assignment had seemed easy at first. That the undead were real he'd discovered while in the ops unit. That there was a secret organization to eradicate them he'd learned at MI-5. It had been his superior's suggestion that he should infiltrate it and they would contact him about reporting back. So far, so good. Once in, he realized that Hellsing operatives only left in boxes. He also, so far, had heard nothing about reporting back. What was there to report? That Hellsing had a pet vampire was news to him, but probably not to MI-5. Maybe that they had two would be important, but again, maybe not. He'd been sold a raw deal, but that really hadn't bothered him until last night. He had no exit strategy. That really scared him.

Integra stood and moved to the window. Units were practicing and moving about normally around the gated manor grounds. She turned back to Waltham. Her manner softened.

"What happened last night?"

He looked startled, but it was fleeting. His training really was good, but hers was better. Her father had raised her, after her mother's young death, and then Walter and Alucard trained her after her father's illness took him. She'd killed at a young age, then killed ghouls and vampires again and again. She took responsibility for every Hellsing solider dead under her watch. She'd faced up to heavy duty at an even younger age than Waltham and she'd learned to hide her emotions away, sometimes even away from herself.

He took a breath. "Your ...vampire..." Her gaze was steady, almost friendly, urging him on. "Last night, our unit arrived to clean out a nest of ghouls and an unknown number of vampires." He had fallen back on a soldier's most familiar debriefing style. "When we arrived at the cordoned off area, we were advised that your...agent had already arrived and we heard many gunshots from within the building. Ghoul corpses outside revealed that he had done most of our work. There was silence when we entered the building and began our sweep of it." He fought for what to say. "I...followed a corridor," he paused, "and, observing a pile of corpses in the hall and entryway..."

Integra's eyes seemed impossibly large to him as he tried to look away from them. He decided to close his before proceeding, but found that the images in his mind were worse. He looked back at the woman who was, ultimately, responsible for the beast.

"I saw Agent Alucard with a woman kneeling in front of him. She was naked and I thought they might be... um," His body tried not to remember how shapely her form had been in that submissive posture. "He leaned down to kiss her and...just tore her head off. Her body exploded into dust. I'd thought she was human at first and..." he stopped and swallowed, "then he looked at me with the most malicious look I've ever seen." He heard Walter rise and walk beside Integra's desk. Waltham had almost forgotten that the old butler was in the room at all. Now his eyes looked from one passive, vaguely sympathetic face to the other. "And I've seen many hostile looks in my day," he added ruefully.

"Is there anything more?" Walter asked after exchanging a look with Integra. She moved back to her chair and picked up her cup of coffee. It was tepid, but the caffeine was welcome. She had the feeling this would be a very long day.

Waltham shook his head and looked down. He did not want to discuss running from the room with the monster's laughter chasing him.

Walter went back to his chair and gathered some papers from the small table nearby. He dropped these on Integra's desk. Waltham looked up at them.

"These are your transfer papers." She said. "Before I sign them, I would like to advise you, as I'm sure they did in your training, that the special agents in my employ are under very strict orders not to kill anyone in the Hellsing Organization. They have never and will never do so." In her mind, Integra added, "without their requesting it or being turned ghoul already..."

She sought Waltham's eyes. "I need to advise you that Hellsing soldiers can retire, but are rarely allowed to switch services. You have not been here long and are still somewhat probationary, so I think we can trust you not to go spilling anything sensitive to MI-5, right?"

Waltham's eyes were hazel, pleasant and blank. Of course, he didn't have anything to report back to MI-5, but it wasn't for lack of trying. This was the time to decide. He desperately wanted out, but the voice of duty was trying to convince him to stick it out.

"Sir..." He could feel himself stalling, "there was one other thing I noticed last night about the vampire." Integra looked confused for a second.

"Go on." She said as Walter moved her notes back to the top of the papers for her.

"There was a tattoo I noticed, on the back of the female..." His mouth was working one way while his mind tried to figure a way out of his real trap. Answer to failure at MI-5 or die at the hands of a lunatic vampire. Failure or death...to a soldier, death would be easier. "...Raw skin around the cross."

He waited for the conversation to get back to his transfer.

"A snake, you say?" Walter was moving to get some papers from his area near the door.

"Can you draw the image?" Integra asked.

It was Waltham's turn to be confused. "Yes, of course." He shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair pulling a pencil from his uniform pocket. Taking the offered paper, he leaned over Integra's desk. One eye taking in the notes she had made about the tattoo. Unclean flesh and cross were written in a lovely, but crisp hand. He drew a close facsimile of the image in his mind.

"Thank you."

"About the transfer." He hated being the one to bring it up, but they seemed so wrapped up in his drawing and he felt that Sir Hellsing would sign it without his input.

"I'm sorry?" Integra looked up at the soldier as if she'd forgotten his presence. "Oh, yes, I'll let MI-5 know. I'm sure they'll be glad to have you back."

"That's just the thing, sir," he'd better just spit it out. "I'd like to stay, if I may, sir." Walter's head turned and he reset his eyeglass as if to see the soldier anew. Integra had a cautious, but thoughtful look.

"Why is that, Waltham?" Her voice was level, betraying nothing. They needed men, good soldiers, but did they need one who came in as spooked this one?

This had to be good, he thought. "This morning, when I spoke with my commander about leaving, he suggested that I could instead ask to remain closer to the manor, perhaps on extended guard duty...and I received a gift, to put me at ease around the vampires." He stood and pulled the chain out of his pocket. The cross glinted in the daylight.

"Interesting." Integra eyed the cross. Walter suppressed a smile. Was Alucard apologizing to the soldier or taunting him with such a gift? He leaned towards taunting. Whichever, it was clearly lost on the man.


	8. Freedom Chapter 8

Freedom Chapter 1

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

Her data had been based on reports by various law enforcement agencies, but it seemed to be all out of date now. Missing person's reports, odd sightings, animal mutilations and the like were no longer in any coherent pattern and the flow of the reports seemed to be slowing. She should have been able to breathe easier knowing this, but her concern over Alucard's behavior prevented any relaxation. He was calm, professional and respectful. Very strange.

As there had been several nights of missions with nothing to kill, he should have been more on edge. There was the stepped up training he was doing with Seras, but...even that should have had him on edge. Instead he reported when requested to, taking his leave without any of the accustomed harassment.

Something was wrong.

Integra was watching the storm clouds gather and swallow up the approaching sunset. Walter and she both thought it was best to research the cross image rather than ask Alucard about it. She wanted to know its significance before confronting him. Why would a vampire have a cross on its body unless it was punishment? Then there was the snake eating its tail. If she had the staffing, she'd have agents scouring the tattoo parlors to find similar designs, but she did not. She sighed.

-----------------------------

Walter had been called to the front gate.

"I'm sorry sir," a young man explained as he neared the sentry's post, "but this man seems to have a letter to deliver."

They approached the guard on duty and the man in question, still outside the gate. From afar, the man looked like he was in jail and accustomed to the place, but Walter knew that, if anything, they were the ones behind bars.

"Can I be of service?" Walter asked the soldier. He recognized the man as Waltham, the special ops soldier scared into guard duty.

"Sir, this gentleman asks to deliver a message to someone who is not at this address."

"And I'm not going until you takes it," the man growled.

"Ah," said Walter, "and this would be to whom?"

"A Lord Alu-card, at this address." The man presented the envelope for Walter to see. They had apparently been over this a few times before he appeared, but Walter appreciated Waltham keeping the man for him.

"Thank you, Mr.?" The man shook his head.

"I'm just the message boy and I'm not leaving until you take it. I don't even care if you throw it away, just that I can't take it back." There didn't seem to be anything sinister about the rich paper with its ornate hand done calligraphy.

"There is no one here by this name, but we will accept it and dispose of it properly." Face saved on all sides and the man was clearly relieved. He fairly ran back to his rather shabby hatchback. He'd left it idling on the drive, probably expecting to drop off the card and go.

"You've run the tags?" He asked Waltham.

"Of course, sir. Originally on a Toyota owned by H. Paterson near Stilton, but sold and we're having a bit of a hold up at that point. I'll have the report sent to the house, shall I?"

"Hmmmm. Yes, that would be fine." Walter was concentrating on the envelope as he walked back up the stairs to the house. A discreet person would deliver the card without opening it...and Alucard would be up soon for his meal. Discreet indeed.

---------------------------------

Alucard woke as he heard Walter's familiar footsteps on the stone stairs. He didn't like to be surprised in his coffin. Of course, Walter did not like to watch him eat, so Alucard would usually remain in the shadows or in the stones themselves until Walter left. Tonight Walter remained and Alucard saw the envelope beside the blood bags.

"Good evening, Walter." He said as he melded back into solid form. Walter nodded and handed him the envelope, as if in parody of a proper butler. They had a good deal of history between them and Alucard's eyes glinted with humor.

Alucard admired the paper and the handwriting; it fairly reeked of centuries gone by. He looked over the note, an invitation. No details of when or where. It was to be assumed. Alucard put the heavy linen paper to his nose, like a sommelier and then, to Walter's astonishment, licked the paper. Satisfied, he crumpled the note and put it into the shadows in his coat.

Walter said, "Good news, I take it?"

An evil grin answered him. "Didn't you read it before me?"

As there was no honest answer to that, Walter busied himself with Seras's meal.

"Walter," Alucard reached a hand out to stop Walter and felt the old man's pulse quicken. Muscles tensed beneath his touch. The vampire laughed, but decided to ignore the reaction. "Tonight, Police Girl will need something fancy, but she will need to be able to fight in it."

Walter had the grace to conceal his shock. He nodded, finished setting up her tray and left.

Alucard watched Walter's back as he closed the door. He pulled the note back out and continued to lick the bloody signature thoughtfully.


	9. Freedom Chapter 9

Freedom Chapter 9

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

"Alucard!" Integra yelled. She did not like the sound of this. He appeared in the chair near the balcony. Legs stretched out as if he'd been there some time. His face covered in the shadows of his red hat. He looked calmly over top of his small tinted glasses.

"Orders, my Master?" He purred.

"What are you doing receiving mail at this address?" She had Waltham's report in her hand.

He gave her no answer.

"This is not acceptable, Alucard!" She had Walter's copy sent out for translation, but he'd implied that whatever was happening, it would be soon. Tonight? "Tell me what was in it!" She knew her pitch had gone higher with her anger, but she couldn't help it. Integra did not like to sound like a little girl, especially with Alucard, who was hard enough to control as it was.

Alucard would usually play with her more, but he decided that the excitement wasn't worth annoying her tonight.

"A personal correspondence, nothing more."

"I WILL FIND OUT!" She stood next to her desk, and smacked it with her hand for emphasis.

"If there are no orders, Police Girl and I will be out for some training." He regarded her calmly as she tried to digest this. He knew she had no plans to send them out tonight, but she paused to think.

Integra had nothing firm, but Walter had said the card was an invitation of some form. A slavic language possibly or an archaic German, hard to decipher in such an ornate hand. Vague and unsettling.

"I want you each to take teams. We have to clear the last known ghoul infested areas." They glared at each other for a few seconds.

Integra decided to change the subject. It sickened her that this creature, who was so useful to her, was leaving her out of some important information. On the other hand, she had often trusted him with her life and the seals on him kept him from harming her, her family or those in her employ. Bloody clever, those seals.

"What has happened to the ghouls?" She sat down at her desk and looked at him again. He seemed to be thinking it through.

"They could be killing them as a way of cleaning up after themselves now that they have our attention, or they could be transporting them somewhere." Alucard shrugged. Ghouls were not smart enough to go into hiding so the fact that they weren't in any of the locations where they had been implied that someone was actively involved. He really didn't care about ghouls. Another night of pointless patrolling while an invitation hung in the air would be frustrating, however.

Sir Hellsing stood and began to pace, a nervous habit of her father's that she usually didn't engage in.

"They?"

Alucard shrugged. He stood, brushed off some imaginary lint and asked, again, "Orders?"

"How is Seras' training going?" It was wrong for him to have turned that girl, but Integra couldn't change what he'd done. It was also wrong for the girl to cling to her lost humanity. She had made a choice and Integra had done all she could to drive that point home. The rest was Alucard's problem. Really, it was funny to see how frustrated he got with his own disobedient servant.

Alucard pursed his lips slightly, then, with a shrug, "She is still taking too long to adjust to what she is, but she is enthusiastic, if that is the right word, about learning."

"I want you to report tonight after your...training." Integra looked him in the eye as she spoke, but he began to fade like the Cheshire cat until he was gone.

------------------

Walter had placed two ensembles on her casket hours before, but she was still in her Hellsing uniform when Alucard entered her room.

She had been studying the clothes as the door opened. "You could knock, master," she said.

"Yes," he replied, "or I can enter as I desire." He looked breathtaking in his black suit with a modern tie. She looked away.

"Walter said I needed to dress up, why?" Seras doubted that her sturdy bra would work under the flimsy tops. Either the fabric or a lot of wishful thinking would have to take up the slack.

"We have an invitation to meet a master vampire." He selected the red ensemble and walked it to her.

"Don't we just kill the other vampires?" Her eyes were wide as he began to unfasten the straps from the hanger. He didn't think he was going to dress her did he! She slapped his hand as he reached for her buttons, eliciting a soft hiss. "I can do this myself. Please wait outside." He hesitated, and then walked outside her door.

"Yes, Police Girl, we kill other vampires when they become nuisance enough to get the humans upset. We kill them for fun, for sport and because our master tells us to."

He heard her struggling to make sense of the straps.

"However, it is not polite to kill a vampire who has invited you for a meeting. Unless she tries to kill you." He listened. "Do you need help?"

"Eeep."

He was in the room behind her, discreetly assisting the delicate task of arranging and tightening the suit. One benefit to six centuries spent getting women out of their clothes, he thought with a lopsided grin. Alucard knelt to help her feet into the matching boots. His hands started to trace the line of her legs upwards.

"Um," Seras tried to distract him, "where are we going all dressed up?"

"We'll see when we get there," he answered and sat back to look at her, hands back by his sides. She and her body weren't on the same wavelength. Her body craved more of his touch. Much more. Seras shook her head, as if to clear it. "How will we get there?"

"Flying."

"Oh."

Alucard waited for it. "Master, I can't fly." Ah, too easy.

"I know that Police Girl. We'll work on what we can and you'll let me take care of the rest." She nodded.

"Master?" He was still on the floor looking as comfortable as he did on his throne-like chair. "I don't feel dressed in this." She looked down at the short dress. Her high-necked uniform dress was also short, but this one made her feel over exposed... all over. He regarded her for a second and decided to ignore her complaint.

"Come along." He threw a large dark coat at her, picked up her Casull and strode out the door.

------------------------

Rain distracted her as she tried to listen to him. Alucard was not exactly verbose. Until recently, she could hardly get any information out of him. Other than his concern about her not drinking blood, he had pretty much let her be. Of course, circumstances and her expanding abilities had thrown them together more. "...aspect of your self so you won't metamorphose, naked."

"What was that?" She shook her head, he'd been saying something about thinking before she zoned out.

"Draculina, you are such a waste of blood. I do not want to repeat myself. I do not want to try and explain..." He pulled at his well-behaved hair and it responded by going wild again. "...Any of this!" He paced a tight circle around her. "When we arrive, I do not want you to speak. At all!"

She nodded, looking miserable and sulky. He pondered leaving her. She was almost the lowest form of vampire, but arriving without her, well, the impression on his hostess would be wrong. Alucard relented. "Hide your weapon and try not to kill anyone. We are guests tonight and they are unlikely to kill you."

As she pondered that, he grabbed her, drew his coat around both of them and dissolved into the rainy night.


	10. Freedom Chapter 10

Freedom Chapter 4

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

Lightening flashed outside the windows of the ornate hall. Old glass giving the storm an abstract look. Inside, the mansion looked as if it had been sleeping for a hundred years. Small creatures scurried about in the corners. In the middle of the room, a large dining table stood, covered in dust, candles and lace. There were no chairs around the table, but four sat empty near the fireplace. Doorways leading to smaller, stodgier rooms were open along three of the four walls. Shadows deepened as the candles dwindled.

The light flared up as a young woman walked through.

"Mistress, your guests have arrived." She called in a heavily accented voice.

Laughter flowed back at her through the doorway like the light tinkling sound of crystals in a chandelier.

"Do show them in, Marta." The voice coming closer as she spoke.

"Very well, mistress," the woman turned, and screamed in fear as a tall, well dressed male figure appeared directly in front of her, stopping her with his suddenly solid body.

"Don't trouble yourself over us," Alucard towered over the servant, then stepped aside so she could run past him into the nearest doorway.

Seras stood behind one of the chairs, where Alucard had told her to remain.

She watched as an amazing looking woman entered the room. Or rather, flowed into the room. She was dressed in a simple black gown that contrasted dramatically with her white skin. Her black hair fell thick and lush down her back. Seras wondered if the woman could control her hair's appearance as Alucard did. Seras idly wondered if she would ever be able to do all of those things as well. What would she have to give up first?

Her master and the other vampire embraced for a moment, then parted. Seras was certain there hadn't been anything friendly in that gesture, at least from the cold look in Alucard's eyes.

Seras stood, unacknowledged and forgotten. Don't speak, huh? She wanted to scream. The woman spoke with Alucard in what sounded like several different languages, but he answered her only in English.

Alucard was unmoved by her beauty. Large black eyes meeting his red ones. She was obviously the master of the beautiful vamp he had killed; she had chosen her for the resemblance no doubt. Would she be more fun to kill? Her looks linked her to the same part of the world that his did. Not of his lineage, he knew that from her signature. Little and swift, like a dancer; he had tasted many like her, centuries ago.

She was a monster, much like him. No matter the surface beauty, he knew her soul was as black as her eyes.

"Please," she said, in English, "let us sit for a moment."

He sat with Seras at his back. She resisted the temptation to sit down in the chair next to him, or put her hands on his shoulders. This situation was creeping her out, but she did not want to let him down again. Why didn't he even introduce her? Who the hell was this woman?

"You must be hungry," the vampire seemed to faintly purr when she spoke. Seras turned her head to one of the doorways when Pudgy, as she called him, came into the room. He was leading a scared looking middle-aged woman. If she could shoot daggers with her eyes, Pudgy'd be deader than he already was. She felt Alucard sending calmness towards her, like a wet blanket covering a fire. Pudgy had no such controls on him and he gave her a withering look in return. He brought the woman to face the line of chairs. He shook her and made her stand in front of Alucard. The woman was looking around wildly for escape, but she was being held firmly. Adrenaline adding spice to the taste of her blood.

Their hostess kept her eyes on Alucard, but gestured towards the captive, "Please."

He eyed the woman with a pitiless, but disinterested gaze. "We feasted before we arrived," he lied. Everyone in the room, except the victim, knew that he was lying. Medical blood was never a feast, but he shrugged. So there it was.

"Very well."

Pudgy shook the woman so she would whimper, then let her stand alone, as if she were free. She looked around like a rabbit ready to bolt, when their hostess raised her hand. She gestured for the woman to come to her. Seras was amazed when the woman seemed to calm down and willingly go sit in the vampire's lap like a child. It was comical. The vampire looked so much younger and smaller. The captive woman was very happy to be allowed to snuggle, as if she were with a favorite aunt. Even when the vampire sunk her fangs into the woman's neck, she looked the picture of happiness.

Seras tried to shout out and move to stop them, but she felt Alucard in her mind like a vise. He seemed to rebuke her without words and her limbs could not move. Her breath came faster, though, as she watched. The effect of the spectacle seemed to be lost on Alucard, who politely looked away from the intimate act.

Pudgy came up, took the victim, then continued draining her. The human body has more blood than most vampires can consume, but it only has to lose a critical amount to go into shock and die. Then the vampire's bite can convert the dead into the undead. Making Hellsing clean up their undead was the manner their hostess had chosen to make contact in the first place. Perhaps that was what the show had been about, thought Seras.

Alucard, however, knew the real thrust of the message. Freedom.

"Lady Katerina," he said in a weary tone, "your offer, though perhaps well meant, cannot be accepted."

Seras felt confused, but his grip on her mind tightened, then released as he spoke. He made his point and she would be quiet.

"Your master," the beautiful vampire purred in her accented voice, "she is aware of what we offer you?"

Alucard shrugged. He hadn't told Integra, but that didn't mean she didn't know. She would probably figure it out if he didn't alert her first.

"Your reluctance frustrates me, my Prince, but our plans can be implemented without your acceptance." She raised her eyebrows as if it was a question, and perhaps part of it had been. Alucard's face was blank, but Seras, even standing behind him, could tell that he was getting angry.

"My titles passed with my humanity. Toying with them gets you nothing, why persist?"

"It gets your attention, does it not?" She smiled as he raised an eyebrow. Then her expression changed. "Why do you persist in slavery? You could be king!"

He smiled a wolfish grin, "My servitude is part of my own plans and is of no concern to you."

The female vampire, Katerina, turned to Seras for the first time. "And you, child, are you servant to the monster or to the master?"

A chill ran through Seras' mind. She wasn't sure if it was Alucard or the other vamp, but she'd been learning a little of what her master had told her and she used her confusion as her mental shield. She truly wasn't sure whether Katerina meant Alucard or Integra as the monster.

Alucard answered for her without turning back to look. "She is mine."

"Do you keep her gagged as well as bound, Lord Tepes?" Black eyes drilled into Seras. She tried to keep her look blank, but the vampire seemed so nice, so familiar, reminding her of a favorite teacher she'd once... happy thoughts... rainbows... hearts and cute kittens...

_Police Girl! _A black cloud rained skulls over her happy thoughts.

"Enough!" Alucard held up a hand and the master vampires looked at each other.

Seras looked at him, then back at the teacher, no, she looked nothing at all like anyone she'd ever known. Knowing laughter from Pudgy and Katerina made her face redden to match her dress. The facade of civility seemed to flee from the room. The candles burned out. Only the fire cast its red light in the room.

Alucard caught the glint of fangs in the smile that faced him and returned a full grin. Her servant, Pudgy, still clutching the dead body, seemed as confused by the change in the air as Seras.

Katerina rose first, then twirled across the room and faced them. A dancer, as he'd thought. Alucard stood up, relishing a test of strength. He hadn't planned to kill Katerina tonight, but it was a slap in the face to mind rape his servant. The rational part of his mind chimed in that he needed to know how much of her plan to kill Integra was in motion.

He watched her as she started to stretch and grow. The rational part of his mind went quiet. He could play with her a little anyway.

"Releasing control art restriction to level three, level two."

The laughter now was Alucard's. The shadows around him began to sprout eyes and teeth. His body became part of the shadows, then solidified. Long black hair lashed out at him, whipping his face. He grabbed some and pulled Katerina towards him. She let him, but as he got closer, used his own strength to pull him off of his feet. He rolled as he fell and became a hellhound.

She howled as he took a chunk out of her arm. She backed away from him, toward her servant. Alucard was pleased to see her trying to re-knit her arm with her mind.

"Good, good."

He stood as a man again, one of many red eyes noticing that Seras had her Casull in her hand. She might need it if Pudgy decided to attack, but he hoped she wouldn't try to join his fight. He tried to calm her, but a sharp pain shot through his leg. Katerina had raked him with her nails, her arms impossibly long.

She took advantage of his momentary pain to launch herself across the room at him. She was a blur of nails, knives and hair. Alucard grabbed her hands, twisting until he heard a crack. Her knives clanked as they fell on the marble floors. She screamed and bit at his hands, drawing blood. Pudgy, until now a wallflower, decided to join the dance. He ran low, knocking into Alucard's knees and bringing him to the ground.

Katerina was now on top of him, hands still trapped in his. Her teeth searching for an opening to tear at him. Seras moved over top of Pudgy, her gun to his temple. She made him lay flat out with his hands on his head.

Alucard began to crack Katerina's fingers one by one. Her hair intertwining with his as she moaned for each broken finger. She rubbed her body slowly over his. Seras looked at them, disgusted, as she realized that they had been playing with each other. She kept her gun on Pudgy's head, though. His eyes held sure death for her. She guessed that he hadn't been told not to kill tonight.

"Now, Kiska, tell me how you plan to free me, when you can't free yourself?" He was keeping it light, hoping to hold the mood she was enjoying.

Katerina smiled; rubbing one leg along his thigh until, with a sudden move she kneed him. Surprise lit his eyes, but he threw her without letting go of her hands and pinned her under him, this time taking more care to immobilize her legs.

"I'd like an answer." His voice was now warm, husky as he leaned over her. She smiled, but said nothing. Her fingers were beginning to set and would need to be re-broken at some point. Alucard wanted to destroy all of her outward beauty, but he restrained himself. Get information first.

"How now, sweet Prince," she answered, trying to free a leg again. "Have I tempted you?"

Alucard smiled in response, a toothy grin. He leaned his head closer and bit her lower lip, drawing blood, then slowly licking it. She pulled their hands close to her mouth and licked his drying blood. A smile spread across her face. "You...you really..."

Watching them, Seras felt her stomach twist. Was this what he wanted with her? Dear Jesus I hope not, she thought. He flitted a quick glance at her with one heavy lidded eye and she tried not to meet his look, just to keep her focus on her restrained vamp. Pudgy whimpered, entirely captivated by the sight. She couldn't decide if he was excited or upset, but it didn't really matter. She kicked him slightly, to draw his attention back to the large gun at his head.

Without looking their way, Katerina softly said, "You may leave us, Michael." Seras looked to Alucard, who nodded, eyes closed before desending again to kiss their hostess. Seras lifted her gun and Pudgy grumbled to his feet. He practically howled, but his master ignored him, her mouth on Alucard's. Her eyes closed to the world. Pudgy stalked across the room, picked up the victim's body like a doll and left clutching it to his chest.

"Playtime is over now, Katt," Alucard said, one hand smoothing her hair. "It is time to talk. How will you free me?"

He slowly released her legs as he stood up. She turned to mist in his hand and reappeared in her chair. Alucard turned towards Seras and offered a hand. She didn't trust herself to look at him, but she gave him her left hand as she holstered her gun. Seras went to stand behind him, but he used her hand to guide her to an empty chair next to his. Oh goody, she thought wryly, I must've done something right!

Katerina sat, looking just as enchanting as she had earlier, her hands crumpled in her lap.

She rubbed them and turned with them stretched out to him, like a child offering a broken toy to be fixed. He smiled and gently broke each finger for her. Setting them right. Blood red tears flowed slowly down her cheeks, but she looked beatific. She leaned back into her chair, her hands still in his.

"Ah, yes, the plan," she said slowly. "You will understand that I can not tell you the details. Not with that silly seal on you." Her fingers had healed enough that she was stroking the outlines on his white gloves. Alucard held his hands still, relaxed. "We can't trust you until you are freed, and perhaps not even then."

Seras thought the vampire was flirting when she said it, but Alucard nodded as if it were a simple fact.

"You will kill her?" He asked. Seras started putting the pieces together and almost said the name out loud, but Alucard noticed in time to clamp down on her mind. Once again effectively gagged, Seras started steaming. How could he?

"Let me handle the details, my Lord," she leaned slightly forward, looking beyond him at Seras. "She is not yet your lover?"

Seras was already angry, but this was too much. She stood up. Alucard tried harder to control her, but she was fighting their mental connection and he released her. Better not to waste energy on her with an enemy at hand.

"What!?!" Sputtered Seras when she got her breath.

"Police Girl, sit down," he said testily. If she blew it, he would eat her for lunch.

"No harm meant, child," said Katerina, obviously pleased. "If you had tasted enough of your master, you would be free. I saw in your memories the choices you've made. Mind you, I killed my master the moment I could. I'm always careful not to free mine. Michael's nearly two hundred and still effectively my slave." She smiled what might have been meant as a friendly look, if Seras had never been the odd girl out in school. She recognized the look for what it was. This master vampire felt threatened by her relationship with Alucard. That was...weird.

Speechless, Seras sat back down. She looked very hard at Alucard, but kept her thoughts to herself.

"Dear Katerina," Alucard sought to get back to the topic, "how can we assist your plans? I am limited, but you need not keep me in the dark. I need to know when your plans go into effect."

The petite vampire looked at him for a few moments before speaking.

"Vlad dear," she said slowly, "they already have."

She watched him carefully and when he didn't respond, "We have some human servants as well as vampires and ghouls. There is some support for this plan among her compatriots."

Alucard had no doubt that this was true, there was suspicion that Integra had enemies in the men who sat at the Convention of Twelve with her. Perhaps this would draw them out. He smiled at the thought of gutting all of them. He would save Penbrook and Irons for last.

"Splendid," he said aloud and turned to his hostess. "You will contact us before you attempt to take or kill my master. Use my servant as our go between. She has more freedom to travel and is not bound by the Hellsing family."

Seras frowned. Some part of her refused to believe he would include her in his betrayal, but the proof was right there.

Lady Katerina nodded and smiled. Alucard turned to Seras. She was so angry that her eyes burned as he looked at her. A nice look for her, he thought. Then he gripped her sternly and led her to the front doorway in silence.

As she was about to give him a piece of her mind, he wrapped his coat about them and dissolved back into the night.


	11. Freedom Chapter 11

Freedom Chapter 11

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------

"A dragon!" Walter called as he came into Integra's bedroom, carrying a clipboard with printouts. "Oh dear," he said.

Integra came out of the bathroom with a robe and towel. Not a flattering get up, he thought.

"Dragon?" She reached over to her dresser for her glasses.

"Yes, my Lady. Not a snake at all."

"Significance?" All thought of sleep was gone. Integra held her hand out for the clipboard.

"The name originally meant 'son of the dragon' for the Loyal Order of the Dragon that his father had been invited to join. A point of pride for the family. Later interpreted as 'son of the devil' by his enemies. This symbol was used as a signature might be. Should ring some bells for him."

As she sat on the bed reviewing the papers, she grabbed for her ashtray and a half cigar. Walter lit the end for her as she puffed.

"So someone used this to get his attention?" Integra thought of the people killed- worse, really, turned into ghouls- just to get Hellsing to send out their vampires. The symbol on the map must've been planned out. The tattoo as well. To what end?

Walter nodded. He noted the way she rubbed the bridge of her nose, a sure sign of fatigue.

"I want to know the second they return."

"Of course, ma'am...perhaps you should rest until then." He knew she would be up for a while anyway, but it was good to start her thinking of sleep. He laid out her pinstriped pajamas. They kept odd hours due to the nature of the work as well as the oddities of the two vampires. Walter slept in 2-hour increments or catnapped when he could. Integra would hardly sleep at all for days when under stress, and then she couldn't deny her body for a day or more. It was best when she listened to his advice.

He retrieved the papers and quietly let himself out.

Integra stubbed out her cigar; she'd finish it later. Head in her hands, she had to admit that she had been up worrying too much lately. Rebuilding the Hellsing Organization was painfully slow work.

She would need a clear head later when Alucard came back.

From time to time, she'd thought about getting rid of him. Stake him in his sleep, behead him, burn him in sections and scatter the ashes at crossroads or in flowing waters maybe? She had visualized doing it, but each time, she imagined that if one step were left out or done wrong... well, he might be a bit too tough to be killed and she imagined his fury.

Yes, she did fear him. She accepted that. Plus, the same seals that protected her also gave him a measure of safety from her. Such magics cut both ways. If she understood it all, she could hurt him with impunity, but not kill him herself. She, however, could ask someone else to do it, while he was restricted from directing an ally to do harm to her. Seras? Integra had thought of her growth as a good thing for Hellsing, but what if it was part of an elaborate plot? The last conscious thought Sir Integra Wingate Hellsing had was a certainty that she had done everything to insure that Police Girl would be a loyal servant.

----------------

The air near the rear entrance was disturbed for just a few moments before two figures appeared, wrapped in an embrace. Alucard looked down at the woman in his arms. Such a little thing, he thought. So much potential. He bent to give her a little kiss,

His lips pressed close to hers and she almost snuggled into his arms until her thoughts became more coherent. The overwhelming thought was anger at him, so she pushed away.

"How could you!" Seras didn't mean to scream. She was just so upset. His hand clamped down on her mouth. At least he didn't use any mind tricks this time.

"I think you were very well behaved tonight," he said quietly and released her mouth before she could bite him.

"Are you insane?" He smiled at her question. This so infuriated her that Seras lunged at him with her fists battering harmlessly at his chest.

"Your freedom?" She pounded on despite the lack of response. "Would you kill her for that?"

He cuffed her, knocking her to the ground. "Do not forget who your master is, Police Girl." She shook her head, not wanting to believe. He had hit her and was plotting to kill Integra. Not only that, he expected her to help him. Could it get worse? The moist ground's coolness seeped through her pretty red dress. Would Walter find someone to get the stains out?

He stretched a hand out to help her get back up. She looked up at his face, her confusion clear.

"Freedom comes in many forms, Draculina. Now, let's go inside and you can give our guns a light oiling."

Seras pouted at his gloved hand another few seconds. Then, maybe more to get off the dampness than because she believed him, she took it.

-----------------

"Sir?" Walter's intercom chirped with his secretary's voice. "Call on line 1. Mercenary, sir. I think it's important."

"Thank you." He picked up the line.

"'Allo?" Walter could imagine the face on the other end and shuddered.

"What is it?" Walter did not like dealing with the mercenaries at all, but the current situation called for extreme measures.

"'Ere is a report you'll find interesting." Walter heard the phone being passed.

"Um, sir," a young voice this time, "I was wandering out tonight and I saw Miss Seras and your monster. They just appeared. I wasn't so close to hear everything, but there was talk of betrayal, freedom and then he knocked her to the ground. I would've gone to help her, but he's a bit, you know."

"Wise of you, I don't think he views your group as under his protection."

"Um, well, yeah. So, that's about it. They walked into the back entrance."

"Together?"

"Yes sir."

"Thank you."

"'Allo? We get a little bit extra, no?"

Walter eased the phone back into its cradle. Betrayal?

He stood up quickly, ignoring the little aches and pains of aging.


	12. Freedom Chapter 12

Freedom Chapter 12

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------

Alucard looked down at Integra's sleeping form. He resisted an uncharacteristic desire to stroke her face. He did not like touching humans generally. All the training with Seras and the foreplay with the silly Katt must've gotten to him. As a young vampire, he only interacted with humans as meals. They were food and he enjoyed playing with them, but he would never try to form a relationship with them.

Damn van Helsing! He'd been living, if that was the term, with the Hellsings ever since that human foiled his seduction of the excellent Harker girl. Retribution and torture under Abraham, then experimentation, black magic enhancements and the chance to kill under Helsing's children and grandchildren. Now, under the great granddaughter, Alucard was getting his own kind of revenge. He had corrupted her until she was almost as much of a monster as he. Alucard was the killer, true, but she gave the orders. Her father and grandfather had used him as a tool also, but he'd been able to form her, to a large extent, from the time he'd first tasted her blood.

Some day he thought he'd like to turn her. What a wonderful challenge she would make. He smiled at the thought of how little humanity she had to shed, unlike his current toy. Even if she never evolved, she was already enough like him to make van Helsing turn in his blessed grave.

He smiled to himself and cooed, "Master," sitting on the bed next to her.

Some part of Integra's conscious mind heard him and was glad she hadn't started REM sleep. He could invade her dreams if he chose, and those were dreams she didn't want to remember. Red eyes, insanity and death. She shook herself and her eyes flitted open.

"Sleeping the sleep of the innocent, Master?"

She met his playful look, with her own, "Mmm, the sleep of the dead, more like."

"Touché."

A pause and he brought his face near hers. His eyes were like crimson pin drops in the large whiteness.

"Back off, Alucard." She broke eye contact and reached for her glasses.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Report." She hurled the word at him. Integra remembered what Walter had discovered. "What have you and Seras been up to?"

Alucard stretched like a cat and lay across her legs. Somehow, she didn't look as tough as she wished when she was curled up in bed. With his weight on her legs, she felt trapped. Integra wanted to kick him off of her, but knew she couldn't and that would amuse him more. He really was quite out of line.

He looked up at the ceiling and began his edited version of the night's events.

"There is a cabal arranged against Hellsing, and yourself in particular. Our hostess believes us to be in league with her and that may be our key to the whole thing. I've asked her to use Police Girl to contact me."

"Is that wise? Does she understand?" Integra again felt unease about Alucard's young vampire.

"She's her usual confused self," he rolled to his side, looking at Integra with an intimacy that was very disconcerting. "This vampire, Princess Katerina, has mental abilities. She'll peel Police Girl's mind like a grape. I think it best to keep her out of the main plan."

"Like you can do to mine?" Her voice seethed with anger.

"Master," he had the courtesy to look chastised. "I try not to abuse your..." Limitations seemed like the wrong word to use, but he couldn't think of anything else.

It would do no good to go over that old argument again, she thought. He'd tried to teach her mental defenses when she was younger, only to get annoyed with her for using them to try and keep him out. At least now she was aware of it whenever he invaded her thoughts. "So she's a Princess?"

"She fancies herself one. Roma with some Ottoman blood. You know Romani?" He looked at her and tried a northern British accent, "'Yer Tinker sort?"

"I know the people you mean, Alucard. Gypsies."

He nodded slightly and rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. "She was turned by a Russian nobleman about 300 years ago."

"She told you all this?"

Alucard half shrugged, leaning on her legs limited the gesture.

"Blood will out," he purred in his velvety voice. He pulled himself up inches away from Integra's face, his body stretched atop hers. The sheets and clothing between them suddenly flimsy to her. She wished she'd left on the duvet, but the night had been warm and humid after the storm had passed. The faint metallic scent of blood held between them as Alucard breathed in and out softly. It was too much for Integra. She tried to control her pulse but her anger, fear, repulsion and even attraction were all mixing and mounting. She felt him harden against her thigh. Right. That's it.

"GET OUT!" Her voice found its sense of command again.

Walter came running into the room, his eyes and fingers flashing in the dim light.

Alucard laughed, standing to meet Walter's challenge. Integra pulled her legs up to her chest and reached for the loaded gun she kept under her pillow.

The situation was quickly becoming too close to a real fight, the vampire decided. One of them would get hurt, though it probably wouldn't be him. He left a laugh behind and opened a portal to his room. He did hope Integra would explain it to Walter, Alucard needed rest and some food; both would be out of the question if Walter ever thought him a real threat to Hellsing.


	13. Freedom Chapter 13

Freedom Chapter 13

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

Seras rose, ignoring the bag of donated blood Walter had left for her. In her strange new life, she felt like she had few allies, but he was one of them. Her mercenaries seemed to like her, when she wasn't yelling at them, but that was about it. Walter and she fought side by side when the Valentine Brothers attacked the mansion. Despite his age, she felt he lived up to his nickname, Angel of Death. He was also the only Hellsing servant to enter the dungeon when the vampires might be awake. Seras had met several of the staff, but they shied away once they understood what she was. That left Master, but he was hardly a friend. Integra had stressed that she thought Seras a monster, but she and Alucard had formed some sort of friendship. He was truly a monster, and now he might be about to betray her. Seras was trying not to become like him, so why didn't she have any friends?

She finished brushing her teeth and showered. As she was closing her door, she heard Alucard and Walter talking in low tones inside the weapons room. They stopped once Master sensed her at the door.

"Please don't skulk about, Police Girl."

She moved to the doorway. "I was just going to the range," she said defensively.

Walter walked towards her with his crisp, all business manners on. She stood aside, but wished she could ask him to stay. She really didn't want to face Alucard alone so soon. She watched Walter's back as he disappeard up the hallway towards the stairs.

Alucard was suddenly right in front of her. She backed up against the dark wooden door. He blocked her in with his arms. She was annoyed with him, but his proximity disturbed her bad mood. A sense of confusion crept up to her cheeks, registering as a blush. He stroked her hair with his face. Breathing her scent in as he passed her neck. She had tasted so sweet, he thought. Now she is mine. One hand moved to caress her side. His own jugular vein moved tantalizingly close to her teeth. Seras felt all hot and unsure of her feelings. His mouth passed over her ear, exhaling softly. Wasn't she angry with him? With his body pressed so tightly against hers, she was on the border of not thinking at all. She licked his neck and a tingle ran through both of them. Seras closed her eyes. Her arms circled him. Her hands on his back as she pulled him closer.

Alucard gave her a gentle kiss, full of promise, but frustratingly chaste. He pulled away from her with an amused, low chuckle.

"Am I so easily forgiven?"

Seras opened her eyes, feeling so ashamed of herself and confused that she lashed out with a slap at his face. He made no effort to stop her.

"Good," he purred, putting a hand up to his stinging cheek. "Let's go to the range."

------------------

Waltham handed off his post to the replacement at the gate. He needed to head off to town. The pass had been arranged for without any questions, but he was prepared to come up with a local girlfriend if needed. They had been placed on a new level of alert since the morning, so he was worried about getting off the mansion grounds.

Heading back to the barracks, he looked up at the 'big house' as he thought of the Hellsing family manor. He sought out the balcony outside of Integra's office. Empty. Probably not much time to notice the lovely night. His eye was caught by the fluttering of a coat on the roof up above her room. He shuddered and walked quicker as he realized it was one of the pet vampires. He touched the crosses he wore and hoped he wasn't noticed.

In the safety of his room, he pulled out his civilian clothes and the cell phone he had been handed the day before. He knew the rules forbade unmonitored communications on the grounds. A workman, unremarkable except to Waltham, had handed it off as he waited for Waltham to check his credentials with the plumbing company. The man had no reaction as Waltham put the cell phone in his own pocket. He wondered if MI-5 used the man to install any devices along with the pipe work, but that wasn't his worry.

He checked with his Hellsing supervisor before grabbing a civilian car. "Back before midnight," he called out to the guards at the back gate. Waltham waited to use the phone. He parked, went into the small pub that most of the soldiers went to and bought a pint. He watched the crowd move and flow through the pub. After a bit, Waltham went to the alley just behind the pub.

Flipping the phone on, he hit redial and hoped he'd been right about this. He was just doing his job, but which job? He liked the Hellsing folks; he'd even got to know some of his fellow soldiers. That monster, though, he'd never get over that sight.

"Waltham, so good of you to call." The dry delivery told him whom he was talking to.

"Sir."

"So, how are things at home?" Interesting phrasing, Waltham thought.

"Pretty good, sir. The pets have been fighting a bit. Last night the dogs had a bit of tustle after roaming the night away."

"Hm? That's nice. How is your mother?"

"Seems a bit on edge, to tell you the truth." Mother? Get off it already, Waltham thought, why didn't they use an encrypted service or a real code?

"We miss you at the office, any chance you're feeling well enough to come back to work soon?"

Waltham wasn't sure what he was really being asked. Why did they send him out so unprepared? Too many questions to his way of thinking. MI-5 was not the Royal Marines by a long shot.

"Well, sir, you let me know when and where. I'm just about there."

"Good, we'll be in touch soon. Why don't you go back home and give our best to your mum. Cheers then."

"Cheers." Waltham flipped the phone off. He'd have thrown it in the rubbish bin, but his training kicked in. He calmly powered it off and slid it back in his pocket. Waltham went back in to finish his beer.

------------------------

Integra was reading the scrolls that her family had used many times before to strengthen the wards around the mansion. Walter suggested they go through all of the defensive magics to prevent her from being taken from the grounds. She would at least have some warning if a covert assault by the undead were mounted. Fat lot of good it had done before, but then they hadn't been very covert about their attack. She had started up the heightened conventional defenses they discussed, now on to the unconventional. Alucard seemed to think this plan would flush out her enemies, she certainly hoped he was right.

She swayed slightly as she realized her eyes had glossed over the scroll without taking in a word. Integra took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. It was late. She was almost as good as the vampires at knowing how close it was to dawn.

There was a light tapping on the door. Lighting up the cigarillo she had laid in the ashtray some time ago, she called out "Enter."

Seras stood in the doorway, looking a little unsettled. They hadn't seen much of each other recently. Integra let Seras feel uncomfortable for a few minutes while she smoked and looked over the spell again.

"Sir?" Seras wasn't even sure what to call her. Master?

"Yes, Draculina?" Integra smiled to take the sting out of the nickname.

"Um, I have to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"I think you might be in danger." She rushed it out. Seras swore she wouldn't mention Alucard at all, just warn Integra about Katerina.

"Really? I'm in danger every day, Seras. You may go."

Integra went back to reading, very curious about what Seras would do.

Seras started to leave, but then turned around. "Sir? There is a dangerous vampire who intends to kill you in order to get Master to be with her." Well, she didn't exactly say that Alucard was trying to get free, so she wasn't really betraying him. A small headache started. Guilt?

Integra looked at her very seriously. "Thank you, Seras. I'll try to be careful. You may go." She was secretly relieved that Seras would take such a risk to warn her. A toothy grin lit up Seras Victoria's face. She did a little salute and hurried out.

Seras stood out by the doorway and almost panted her relief. It was strange that Integra hadn't asked for details, yet she was pleased to have warned her at all

Walter came towards her with a vase in hand, a few roses looking very elegant in the small arrangement.

"Those are pretty, Walter. For her?" She nodded towards the double doors.

"For you, Miss Victoria." He handed them to her with a flourish.

"Why?"

Walter acted surprised. "Why not?"

She took the blood red roses, unsure what to do with them. Seras thought roses were pretty, but she'd never really paid much attention to them. She looked at the thorns.

"Please read the note, Miss."

To Seras,

We are sending these for you.

Captain Pip Bernadette and the Wild Geese

She blushed as she read it. No one has ever sent me flowers, she thought. I haven't been as good recently about training with the unit; maybe they wanted to remind me. Maybe the annoying, but cute captain had another message? A shy smile spread over her face. She made a mental note to thank them the next night.

"Thank you, Walter."

He was pleased to note that it put a spring in her step as she went down to the dungeon. He wasn't happy about the way Alucard was treating her, so if Walter could do a little something to make her smile, he would. The captain hadn't wanted to part with any of the flowers. By the time Walter left, he smiled to recall, they all were convinced it was their idea. Imagine asking for roses instead of extra pay!


	14. Freedom Chapter 14

Freedom Chapter 14

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

"I most strongly insist that you not go, Sir Integra." Walter was adjusting the curtains in her study to lessen the glare of the afternoon sun. There had been no incidents with the undead reported, no major groupings of disappearances, nothing. He worried that they would let down their guard. Integra had been getting more and more irritated with the protective behaviors that Walter, Alucard and even Seras had been displaying.

"I accepted this invitation months ago, Walter. Lord Irons would be greatly put out if I suddenly declined due to a vague threat."

"That is why I asked you to contact him last week and decline. Would you consider Alucard?" He sounded apologetic as he said it. That had sounded better in his head.

She gave him a withering look. "Most of the Knights will be there. They all know who and -more importantly- what he is," her words were all clipped, as if she were talking to a misbehaving child. "With wives there and all, do you think that will go over well?"

"Noted. What about Miss Victoria?"

"Her in a party of nobles?" She looked like she had smelled something disturbing. "Plus, some of them helped us cover up her death."

Walter nodded. He wasn't finished with this, but he needed a new approach. "The troops have been doing a fair bit of prep and training. I think we're in pretty good shape."

"How is it going this month?"

Walter pulled a zip drive from his waistcoat pocket. "The files for the retention and recruiting numbers. Couple to note, a few are gifts from other security services. There are some female recruits to consider as well."

She walked to her desk, fiddling with her computer. "I don't think I'll need a guard, Walter."

"No doubt, but what if you took one of the soldiers with you, as a date, perhaps?" He smiled inwardly. She hadn't seen that one coming.

"WHAT? You...you don't... Fraternizing?" Like a date, only worse, she thought. Not to mention the awkwardness of introducing him around to the others and their wives. The gossip produced would be out of this world. Even Seras would be a good choice in comparison, and that was saying something. She thought of the times she'd put down soldiers who had been made ghouls. A shudder went down her spine. Could you do that to someone you've dated? "It's too late to just bring another person anyway! It just isn't done."

Walter came over to her desk with a cup of tea for her. Setting it down he said, "Well, I'd favor sending Alucard and Seras out, in a covert capacity, of course..." As if that hadn't been his backup plan if she insisted on going.

"Yes. Yes, quite reasonable," she said gratefully.

"I have the progress on the mansion as well." He pointed at the computer. "We should be almost back to normal, but we had to use quite a few outside providers. I'm not happy about that, but," he shrugged and began to walk towards the door, "we can tackle hiring our own after we get the troop strength back up and this new threat has been eliminated."

As he left, he looked back to see Integra smiling distractedly.

A date? Dash the thought. Still...

-----------------------------

A swirling mist rose up in front of Seras. It was unreal, but she felt a chill and pulled her pajamas tighter around herself. Pajamas? That's odd, she thought, I wear my uniform most of the time. She looked down at the little girl PJs she wore. Okay, this is probably a dream. Her clothes were the only color in the area around her. She started walking in no particular direction when Pudgy jumped down from a tree.

_Ha! Can you take me down without your precious human weapons?_

She shook her head and suddenly desired some kind of weapon. A bulbous man with leather straps across his chest appeared floating near her.

"Brilliant, just brilliant." The spirit of her cannon appeared periodically to give her vague and useless warnings. "Just what I need, another old pervert." She flicked her finger at Harkonnen.and, chattering to himself, he floated away like a disgusting balloon.

She looked back at the tree, but Pudgy was gone. The dark haired female vamp Katerina was sitting on an old fashioned wooden swing. She patted the small space next to her.

_Come here, girl. _

Her legs moved her close, and then she was sitting next to Katerina before she realized it. She felt embarrased to be in her childhood nightclothes. As they began to swing together, Seras was in the same pretty red dress that she had worn the other week.

_Tell your master that we will move tonight. He may rest assured. He will be free soon. You should both remain still and wait for word._

She enjoyed the sensation of swinging and Katerina placed her arm around Seras' waist.

In front of them, they watched a movie where Alucard struck her down outside the back entrance again. She felt the anger and confusion as if it had just happened. Katerina, however, seemed quite pleased.

The women were about the same size, face to face. Katerina smiled and Seras was filled with good feelings. She hadn't felt this happy since, since before she died. Maybe since before her mother had died. The mist began to lift.

_Police Girl?_

The woman's voice had changed and the whole world seemed to shift. A dull ache started to form in the front of her head.

Insane red eyes greeted her as Seras awoke.

"Get up, Police Girl. We have work tonight!"

"Master..." She struggled to clear the mist from her head. Groggy was too kind a word for how she felt. Hung over fit better. He practically lifted her out. She shook him off as she started to stand on her own.

"Must brush teeth," she mumbled and trotted off. Alucard followed her.

Seras didn't want to convey the message. It was just a silly dream, she thought as she brushed. He was watching her in that unblinking way as she finished spitting. She turned to him, determined not to tell him what she had learned.

"What are we doing, Master?" Before he could answer, she began talking again. It was her voice, but the words were from her dream:

"_Master, they will move tonight. You may rest assured. You will be free soon. We should both remain still and wait for word."_

He looked not at her now, but through her as he thought about the manner that Katerina had used to communicate with him.

Suddenly, her brain was not just aching; it hurt like it was splitting in two. Reflexively, she clutched her head as if she could hold it together. When she released her arms, the mist was surrounding her again. Alucard was still in front of her, but otherwise she couldn't tell if this was the dream or not. Seras pinched herself just to be sure.

"Yep," she said, "Awake. What the hell -"

Alucard shushed her with a hand gesture as he moved away and began to look around the area. She looked over at the tree and the swing, which was still going back and forth. He pulled out his Jackal and began blasting at the tree. It shriveled and died, taking her headache along with it.

Suddenly he was standing next to her, which was a very good thing from her perspective, as he caught her before she hit the stone floor. He carried her out to the chair at her table, putting the gun away in his coat once she was sitting on her own. She put her head between her knees and cried for a moment. This is all just too odd for me, she thought. Could I make that choice again?

Alucard walked up with a cool washcloth from her bathroom. She took it for her head and he leaned up against the wall opposite her.

She heard him humming faintly.

"Mozart? Flute?" She asked when she'd found her voice. He'd been trying to get her to like classical music. She imagined a resume for him would include, under hobbies: Reading, music and killing things, not neccessarily in that order.

He smiled.

Seras wanted to ask a million questions about what happened, but she knew that he either wouldn't tell her anything, or would bore her to tears with a long, confusing answer.  
"What are we going to do tonight, Master?"

His smile broadened. "We're going to 'guard' Sir Hellsing at a Protestant Knights soiree."

"Oh."

"Without being seen, if possible." He tapped his large red hat down low over his eyes.

"I need to change." She started to rise and he moved towards her. "No, I'm alright, could you step out, please?"

He passed through the stone walls with a small flourish. She shook her head. She hadn't managed to go through walls yet. Her progress was frustratingly slow. Some of what he did, she learned, was with magic, but the rest was mind control. That's what he was working with her to do. Relaxing seemed to be the key. It was a disconcerting few days until she figured that out. Alucard seemed to think his attempts at seduction were useful, but she would get so flustered and confused that she had to yell at him to stop it.

So unhelpful in so many ways, she mused. Nobody had ever touched her like he did. A couple of boys in school and at the academy were interested in her, but she'd been very shy. Aside from a few fumbled passes and some kissing, there had been nothing. She wanted him to touch her, but she was very frightened by her reactions. Then there was that whole evil monster thing to think about.

And his attitude! Seras had never been much of a feminist, despite going into the male dominated police force, but his attitude of ownership was getting hard to swallow. Of course, he did own her, so that made it hard to protest. She sighed, changed her clothes and went to join him in the hallway.


	15. Freedom Chapter 15

Freedom Chapter 15

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

Dressed in his best chauffer ensemble, Walter walked Integra out to the black Bentley. The car was packed with various weapons on a regular day, but he had outfitted it this afternoon with some heavy-duty equipment. Though he didn't want to be too paranoid, the communications system had been double-checked and he had a small unit of Hellsing regulars on standby at the mansion. He had done all he could; including making sure her new suit was tailored and ready in time.

She was in a fashionable dress suit, but with a nod to her safety and her status, a sabre crisscrossed her body. If she felt at all nervous, she didn't show it. Integra sometimes thought about how isolated her life was. Except for missions, she rarely left the grounds. Most women her age went out dancing and saw movies and who knows what else. She was pleased just to go hang out with dodgy old men, at least one of who was probably trying to kill her. That's a mite cruel, Integra thought to herself. She enjoyed social get togethers. These were men she had the utmost respect for. During the Valentine brothers attack they were steadfast. Several of them, including her host, she had known all of her life. The Convention of Twelve quietly ran England for the Queen. All of this was done with the utmost secrecy and only tacit approval from Parliament. She fumbled with her glasses for a second before she acknowledged the door Walter held open for her. Settling in, she pulled out an unlit cigarillo and fiddled with it. As they were heading out, she noticed that the guard named Waltham waved them through. She was glad that was working out. They needed to retain the men they recruited. Even doing long-term guard duty was useful. It freed someone else up to be ready for fieldwork.

She did not notice him flipping his little cell phone open as they were leaving.

----------------------------

Seras was in place at the Irons Mansion. She had a direct line of sight into the dining area and she her cannon ready. Alucard was following the car. He had said it would slow him down to try and carry her along. Seras was unclear on that part. She couldn't do much about turning into bats on her own, but he'd done something like that when they visited Katerina. She could recall the feeling of wind, strange sounds of the night and the feeling of security in Alucard's arms. More than security, really. A sense of being a part of him in some way. She didn't feel quite like herself for a few seconds after they'd returned to Hellsing. Better to let a transport drop her off, she decided.

She tracked the Bentley and felt the strong presence of undead enter the area. "Master?" She called in her mind.

_Police Girl._ He had taken up a position a bit closer to the mansion. Reassured, she went back to watching the activities inside.

------------------------------

Integra didn't enjoy herself. Eight out of the twelve Knights were in attendance, counting herself, and several of Lord Irons important friends. The dinner was tasty, so she counted that as a small blessing. As usual, she was seated next to Lady Irons who was intelligent and friendly. The general conversation, however, held little for her. After dinner, she retired with the men to the balcony. Political banter really didn't engage her, but ladies' social banter sent her screaming. Plus, she'd worked hard to be accepted as a peer. She looked out over the garden, her eyes searching for her guards.

"Lovely Spring, Integra." Not a question, just an observation from Lord Smythe.

"Well, it is a nice night. The garden is putting on a good show," she responded.

"As are you, my dear." Integra stiffened. Was that a casual comment, or pointed? His dry delivery made it hard to discern the difference.

She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

He gave a languid shrug and pointed at the garden path.

"Down the primrose path?" She asked.

He laughed a quiet chuckle and looked at the other gentlemen.

Integra decided that she had the upper hand, if ever so slightly. She drifted back and spoke to Lord Irons about the advancements in synthetic blood.

"It's just a stabilizer, you understand," he clarified. "Not suitable for nutritional needs...uh, for them."

"Still, it would be handy to have for the troops. I consider the medical staff as important as the front line, don't you?"

"Quite right."

The general conversation ebbed and flowed. Rarely were state secrets spoken of at these casual gatherings, but a level of polite disinterest reigned.

A servant came out to announce dessert and they all began to move towards the house.

As Integra began to move, Lord Smythe put an arm out to stop her. She looked down at his hand disapprovingly. He removed it, shamefaced. They walked inside together.

She took her seat next to Lady Irons again.

"I never give up on you finding a young lad," Mrs. Irons remarked to Integra over coffee.

"Indeed?" Integra was feeling a bit in need of an ally in the room.

"I have a few fellows in mind for you, in fact."

"Oh?" They often had this same conversation, but Integra tried not being rude about it this time.

Lady Irons looked surprised, but covered it quickly by reaching for a grape from the table display. "Well, you'd need a man with good breeding, but an open mind, of course."

Several of the men around the table had stopped their own conversations to nod and listen.

"Think of the bloodline, dear," Lord Smythe was the last person Integra wanted to join in this conversation, but there he was. She knew exactly what he was inferring, as did many of the other Lords. She saw some heads nod gravely.

"You should marry for love," argued Lady Walcott. "Don't let these old men tell you otherwise." Integra smiled weakly at her. Suddenly all of the ladies had something in common with her. She saw more friendly faces around the table than she ever had before.

Conversations continued, mainly on the topics of marriage, sexuality and the complete lack of values among youth today. Integra counted the party a success and attempted to make a discreet escape. Several ladies crowded around her to suggest a family member as a suitable candidate for dating and mating with. She hadn't counted on that, but it did keep Lord Smythe at bay.

As she finally made her way out to the front hallway, Lord Iron's security detail offered to see her out. Integra heard the tink of a canister hitting the marble floor, but there was no time to react.

-----------------------------

Dark clouds shrouded the waning moon. Seras communicated a loss of visual contact with his master, so Alucard moved closer and tried to call out to Integra. No response. He quietly drifted through the building until he came upon a smoke clogged hallway. Integra and four men lay where they had fallen, her hand on the hilt of her sabre. He should have had Walter give her a discreet handgun, but even then, it couldn't match a nerve agent dropped into the room. He knew from past experiences that inhaling wouldn't affect him like humans, but it would take time for the irritation in his throat to go away. That had been fifty years ago, but there was no reason to think that had changed.

Alucard reached down to pick her up, but Seras, in a panic, shouted into his mind.

_M, Master? I sense powerful undead on the grounds. Maybe 5, or maybe less, but full vampires, I think. And they are in a hurry._

He moved away from Integra and hoped that the other vampires didn't have Seras's ability. Even he couldn't sense them with the range and accuracy that she could. Of course, Katerina probably wouldn't expect any other vampires to be here, whereas he did.

Quickly, he moved outside and waited where he hoped they would exit with her. Katerina would need her alive if his suspicions were correct. That bought him some time.

From his new perch, he could see Walter waiting patiently outside at the Bentley. Alucard decided to follow Integra and the vampires with as few distractions as possible. Seras maybe, but not yet, he thought.

Carrying a human body any distance, he knew, meant taking a vehicle. The sound of a lorry starting up sent him off on the hunt.

----------------------------------

Walter stood. A vague feeling creeping down his spine told him that he should have been more forceful. She was still a girl and it was his job to see her safe. Alucard had decidedly mixed loyalty in this case. I should rely less on those two, he thought. Still nothing had happened yet.

He checked his watch. Perhaps calling Miss Victoria for an update wouldn't be too paranoid.

"She left the room four minutes ago. I haven' t seen her exit, but some ladies had surrounded her before she left, so someone could have detained her to talk. Three people have left the room since she did. Master Alucard is going inside to check."

"Roger." Walter felt better, but was still uneasy that Integra hadn't been seen since she left the party. He would feel like a fool if he went bursting in there to find her gossiping with some old bird. The odd feeling had left, so he settled back down to wait.

A few minutes later, one of the security guards walked out, shaking his head. Walter got out and walked towards the main entry.

"Jesus..." the man was mumbling. Another troop was aiming his gun randomly and coughing. Walter began to run.

"Where is she?"

"She's gone, man." The first man was holding his head with one hand and his gun with the other. As Walter entered the doorway, he saw several guards running in from a side door. One man was still down, but Integra was nowhere to be found.

"Check the house. The grounds. I want two teams! Go!" The head of the security detail that Walter had spoken with earlier was giving the commands. "Secure the guests. Do not sound the audible alarms! Shut those bloody things off!" The blaring had just started.

In the sudden rush of silence, Walter shook his head. The lump in his stomach told him that it was all too late. He ran back to the Bentley.

---------------------------

Back in the command room at Hellsing, Walter paced back and forth. He had fumed the entire way back. Both units were out with Seras. She might have a chance, but he wasn't counting on it. She would have to return before dawn, for one thing. His informants had been contacted and some tips had started coming in: a lorry rental slip, the criminal record of the invitation deliveryman, and one possible sighting of Alucard in Kent. Damn him.

Damn myself! Walter cursed, for growing so complacent with the vampires. The past few weeks had seen unusual behavior and even conflict between them. Damned odd. Now he felt he couldn't trust either of Hellsing pets. Seras hadn't reported the entry of the vampires on the Irons grounds until after the abduction. She was too close to her master. Still, he couldn't find anything about her reaction that wasn't genuine.

It was already an hour before dawn and Seras was limited in how she could travel. He radioed and called them back. He sent a few of the men that they had doing guard duty out to Kent. That's a pretty big area to cover and they just didn't have the staffing for this. I should be out there, he thought. He shook his head slowly. Who was left to do the coordination here? He really missed the men they'd lost, but he missed the leaders most of all. Some had come to them as military generals, but some he'd worked with for years as they were formed into battle hardened Hellsing commanders.

He opened the gates when he saw the transports on the bank of monitors.

"Seras Victoria. Report immediately!" He watched as she shouldered the cannon he had lovingly altered for her and ran across the grounds to the house.


	16. Freedom Chapter 16

Freedom Chapter 16

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

Integra awoke, which she thought was probably a good sign. Then the headache kicked in and she wasn't so sure. She was restrained on a hard bed. Hands by her side. Okay, she thought, not too bad, yet. She tried to move her head from side to side. Her entire body protested this and she thought she would wretch. With the bile in her throat threatening to rise, she clamped her eyes shut and screamed for Alucard. He did not come. Very slowly, she turned her head to one side. A large window showed that the sun was shining. She guessed it to be about noon. Not surprising, then.

Integra forced herself to look about the room she was in. Her vision was bad, and she'd apparently lost her glasses. It smelled medicinal and the decor bore that out. Opposite the window was a heavy door with a little window on it. Integra watched the door as she tested her straps. Her ankles and torso were also strapped down and, as she strained, she determined that these were heavy-duty restraints. She looked down her body. There was no way she was still in her suit. She thought she saw a piece of a hospital gown peeking out of the flimsy blankets.

The room was quiet, but there were muffled sounds of movement outside. Integra screamed for help.

After a while, a female face looked in the little window at her. Human at least, Integra thought. She called for help again and the woman smiled, nodded and left. When she returned, Integra heard the sound of keys in the lock and a bolt being thrown. Then the woman entered. She wore a white nurse's uniform and a kind smile.

"Could you get me out of here, please, there's been some mistake," Integra lied. The woman patted Integra's leg, moving aside the blanket, as she walked up to her.

"Of course, ducks," the nurse said as she pulled out a syringe. Integra grit her teeth. A short sting later, she let go of consciousness.

---------------------------

Seras wasn't surprised that no one had provided any blood for her today. Walter'd been uncharacteristically short with her when she returned from recon. Plus, there was the trying to save Integra without a full staff thing. Seras thought it was positive that they'd just taken her. They could've killed her on the spot, after all. Walter hadn't taken that observation very well.

Was there a reason for Katerina to keep her alive? Seras hadn't told Walter about the dream, but the more she thought about the message, the more it jived with how the thing had happened. She hadn't said Master would be free last night, but 'soon.' Seras continued to think about it as she cleaned up for another night of searching.

"Master?" She felt no reaction from him. She tried to relax and move through the wall into her bedroom, but a bump on the nose was as far as she got. Seras sighed and went to the door. She felt an unsettled and empty feeling lingering in the pit of her stomach.

Her cannon and gun, at least, felt good and normal to her.

----------------------

Never really liked this area, Waltham thought. Guess I never will. He was driving along the A28 towards the seaside towns. What he did like, though, was searching for Lady Hellsing. It beat guard duty and monster stomping. He was also a bit glad that it was her own beast that slipped her up. Not glad for her, mind, he liked her. But it was nice that his paranoia had been validated.

His cell phone chirped, surprising him. He pulled over into a nearby way station.

"Yes?" He had taken to leaving it on since Walter had mobilized several of them. Not as much danger of being spotted out here, he thought.

"On holiday are we?" It was the chipper voice of the MI-5 mission coordinator.

"Yeah. I love it here in the Peaks."

"Liar." Ah, he thought, can they track me with this little phone?

"Just playing," he kept his voice light.

"Well, we at the office were hoping you'd drop by tonight. It's time for you to grow up and leave home."

"Really?" He was tired of the charades, but this was the profession he'd chosen. He just hadn't expected to be playing with clowns at this level.

"Yes, let's cut the old apron strings, you know?"

"No, I'm not sure I do."

"Then drop in tonight and we'll explain it to you." The voice was a bit less chipper, but still professionally pleasant.

"Break off my holiday, you mean?"

"Yes."

Waltham was silent.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, but it's a bit of a drive and I'm in a pal's car. I don't want him to think I nicked it."

"True. There are some blokes out your way, in fact. Maybe you could meet up with them tonight instead?"

"Anyone I know?"

"Yeah, meet up with them around the fairgrounds in... Ah, in Margate."

"See you soon, then."

"Cheer-" He flipped off the phone and grabbed his map. To the fairgrounds, then, he thought.


	17. Freedom Chapter 17

Freedom Chapter 17

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

Alucard looked down at Integra's sleeping form, her scream still ringing in his mind. He took off one white glove and stroked her dusky face, a possessive feeling coming over him. Her skin was warm and clammy to his touch, but for once he didn't mind. Using one razor sharp fingernail, he cut through the binding around her wrist. Flipping away the covers he noted sadly how frail she looked in the hospital's green gown. Silently, he moved around the bed, freeing her. She looked unhurt, but was in a narcotic slumber. He could pierce the veil, but she was so far gone, it would do no good. He picked her up easily. Should work its way out of her system in an hour, he consoled himself.

Too late, he felt Katerina approach. There was nowhere to go. Flee? Integra was dead weight. He couldn't transform with her, a living being. It was awkward. He placed her back on the bed and rested his hands on his guns.

"It was a beautiful sight, no?" Katerina said from the doorway. "A strong woman, so helpless." There were two vampires with her, but not her servant, Michael.

Alucard shrugged, moving his hands back out in the open.

"You couldn't ignore your master's call?" Part rebuke, part question.

"You heard her, how could I?" Katerina nodded, apparently satisfied. As he expected, she'd implanted a link into Integra's mind, as she'd done to Seras. Neither woman could stand up to a vampire of her mental strength. Would she have done that if she meant to kill Integra quickly?

The vampires brought up a gurney. Katerina moved next to Alucard as Integra was lifted onto it like a little girl. She watched them with a smile on her face. Alucard did not try to hide his distaste at their handling of Integra. Katerina took his bare hand and kissed it. "Soon you will be free," she cooed. He gave her a wry smile and quickly replaced his glove.

"For creatures like us, soon can be a very long time," he responded.

"There are...precautions we must take," he had a very clear idea of what she meant. Over the hundred years he had been captive to the Hellsings, he had made a point to understand and research the magics used to bind him. He had also made a point to test the boundaries of the seals.

"Why this," he gestured at the room.

"They were well compensated to store her and keep her quiet during the day for us." She nodded at her lesser vampires and they began to leave.

She floated after them. Alucard knew he had to follow, but he'd do so on his own. He rubbed his hand to erase the memory of her lips on him.

------------------

"Try. Please, Miss Victoria." Walter was tired, but back to being polite, for the most part.

Seras concentrated and send out a mental request for Alucard. He heard her, but did not respond right away. He used their connection to survey the scene through her eyes. He could see Walter, looking older, if that was possible, and the command room. Several soldiers were calling in their locations. Interesting, thought Alucard.

"No response, Walter, but I feel like, um, there's a link with him, sort of." She looked down. It sounds crazy even when Master talks about it, but truly stupid when I do.

_Trust me. _She gasped at the unexpected communication. Seras nodded.

Walter studied her for a moment, then turned to the communications system. He had a soldier in to help with that, at least. "Anything?"

The man shrugged.

Walter turned away in a fury. He'd never lost the director of Hellsing before. She could be anywhere or she could be dead. Alucard's gone rogue and Seras was being useless. Bloody Hell. Then it came to him.

"Ask him if she's dead. Has he or his friends killed..." he choked off.

"Pardon? Oh." Alucard sent her a feeling of reassurance and told her that Integra lived. He didn't think they needed to come along, but he sent an image of the seaside town anyway. That should keep them busy for a few minutes while they worked it out and mobilized. At least if Police Girl was true to form.

-----------------

Seras poured over the book _A Photographic Journey Through Kent_. Walter watched her. Useful, yet useless, he thought. Not like Integra. She'd get though this just because she had to. How they would dispose of Alucard afterward remained to be seen. This was far worse than the incident that had gotten Alucard locked away as long as her father lived. Would Integra need him to retake the mantel of Trashman? He wasn't as young as he once was.

"Excuse me, sir?" The young soldier asked.

"Mmmm?"

"There's no contact with Waltham, sir."

"Who? One of the guards?"

"Yes sir. We sent him out along the coast. Last we heard he was on the A28. I've tried to radio him along with the others, but no response."

Walter thought about that and pointed Seras to look in the area they last had contact. Then he turned to the soldier.

"What is your name?"

"Brown, sir."

"First name?"

"Douglas, sir."

"Mr. Brown, are you afraid of the vampires?"

The man took a furtive look towards Seras. She stopped her searching and looked back at him. Douglas looked away.

"No sir." He swallowed hard.

Walter was amused. "No?"

"I've fought beside them. They're tough, but I'm not afraid of them. Not really."

Seras looked back down at her book. Trying to look focused and fighting a small smile.

"Good enough. Tomorrow I'll transfer you to a new detail. You will answer to me and take care of the feeding and safety of Miss Victoria." Both heads snapped up and looked at Walter. "I'm sick of hauling blood bags to pernicious vampires. I need a break."

Seras almost laughed. She wondered if Walter knew that one of Alucard's nicknames for humans was 'blood bags', but the look on Walter's face was so unusually unpleasant. She decided that the fight that almost started a few weeks ago would occur tonight if the two of them met. She would really miss Walter.

He looked at her. "What?" His voice was almost choking with anger.

"Margate!" She shouted. "I've found them!"

Brown turned back to his equipment and began the orders to mobilize the transports. The helicopter was standing by.


	18. Freedom Chapter 18

Freedom Chapter 18

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

-------------------------------------

The ambulance raced through the darkened streets without its sirens or lights. It was in front of Waltham and kept making the same turns he did. He didn't want anyone thinking he was following them, so he kept a bit of distance between them.

When the lights and colors cut through to Waltham, the ambulance had already parked and disgorged its contents. He parked as far as he could away from the lights.

Edging along the buildings, he saw Alucard alight on the ambulance and smile directly at him, yellow glasses glinting in the streetlights. Then he was off.

-----------------------

This time when Integra awoke, she kept her eyes closed. She sniffed the air and detected dirt, salt and moistness. Not a hospital this time, she thought. There was movement around her and she felt that she was in a larger room than before as well. Her head still ached, probably from the medication. With her eyes still shut, she tried to determine what was going on with her body. Grogginess limited her senses, but she seemed to be on a mild incline, with her head up on a small pillow. Still restrained, but now by ropes. She could feel the scratchiness against her wrists and ankles. No blankets now, but she was covered by some kind of fabric. Chilly though. She peeked with one eye and saw a somewhat fuzzy grouping of people around a small table with statues and bowls on it. She closed that eye, turned her head slightly and looked out the other. Colorful stripes? A tent? That was her best guess. She snuck another peek, this time at her body; she saw a white gown, maybe a nightgown? Still, at least she was dressed.

She closed her eyes and hoped that she could try to soak in what was going on. They had kept her alive for some reason. What was Alucard's role in this? How long had she been kept asleep? A person walked near her. She could smell insence and expensive perfume, but under it all, death.

"You may stop pretending, Sir Integral Wingate Hellsing." The voice was rich, accented and very feminine.

"Princess Katerina, I presume." Integra found her voice was raspy, but still able to convey disgust. She opened her eyes. Without her glasses, things were a bit fuzzy, but she saw the back of the vampire's hand clearly as it headed for her face. She braced herself for the strike, but it didn't come.

"Tsk, tsk, Kiska." Alucard's voice was a welcome sound. At least, she hoped so.

"Ah, our other honored guest!" Katerina shook his hand off of her arm. "Whatever took you so long, my sweet?"

Alucard smiled.

"Traffic." He grinned and looked casually about. There were no other levels for snipers to hide in, but there were rooms within the tent that he couldn't see into. Several vampires stood by a table of mystic objects, candles and insence. Still no sign of her servant, or of the ghouls she'd kept before.

Alucard's smile widened as he realized that he truly missed Seras. Her ability to clue him into the numbers of undead would keep them from getting ambushed. Imagine, missing Seras... and her cannon.

Then he looked at Integra, or rather through her. His look became serious. She hoped he was on her side, but with his freedom on the scales, which way would he tip? His eyes clouded and their color deepened slightly, but he remained silent.

Katerina took one of his hands. He watched the petite vampire as she traced the pattern of the seal with one of her dainty fingers.

"We're waiting on one other, then we will begin, my pet." Katerina placed her hand on Alucard's elbow and tried to walk him to a chair near the table. He shook his head and stood by Integra.

"I'll stay here."

"She will not be your master much longer."

"Why haven't you killed me?" Integra couldn't stand being spoken about like she didn't matter.

Katerina shrugged and turned back to the table. Integra was nothing to her. Alucard answered for her.

"They intend to keep you alive until they can bind me again."

Katerina spun about. "You know! How could you?"

Integra also looked unbelievingly at him. She laughed. "So, all this is for nothing! You are such an idiot, Alucard!"

Alucard turned and looked down at her, eyebrow raised. "Don't be so sure of yourself, my Master."

Katerina looked at each of them in turn. She was angry with both of them, but she looked most intently at Integra.

"I've heard that you were the last of the Hellsings. A tough family, to be sure. You accept the betrayal of your slave and yet you laugh."

Integra felt the ache in her head throb and grow. She strained against the ropes to put her hands to her temples, but they wouldn't budge. Alucard noticed her distress and looked to Katerina.

"Stop it. Now."

Katerina shrugged. "For you, my Prince." Integra's head rocked forward and she moaned softly.

"You are also too sure of yourself." He said it as a simple fact. Katerina looked at him and smiled.

"If it were just between you and I, maybe, but I have powerful allies on my side." She nodded to a short, dark haired vamp and he quickly went through one of the back doorways.

-----------------------

Waltham waited outside the big tent. He'd seen a flash of Alucard's coat as he entered the tent, but soon after, a contingent of ghouls and one vampire had exited and taken up positions. The ghouls stood about shuffling. The vampire periodically wandered in, out and leapt up to the top of the wooden entryway. Waltham did a mental inventory of his weapons. Flame thrower, hand gun and ammo, some knives. The flame thrower was intended for the undead, but Waltham wished he'd brought his regular semi-auto ghoul gun instead. He didn't want to risk burning Integra Hellsing to death trying to get rid of Alucard's ghouls. That was assuming she was still alive. He hoped she was. Good leadership was hard to find.

A black limo pulled up in front of the tent. The ghouls made horrific sounds, but the vampire hopped down and opened the door. He stuck his head inside and then stepped back. An older, dignified face was visible in the garish lights from the tent. The gentleman allowed the vampire to escort him through the ghouls and disappeared into the tent. Waltham would know that man anywhere. Slowly, the ghouls shuffled into a knot at the door. Damn, he thought, looks like they're staying there. He began to move along the side of the tent.

-----------------------

Seras remained quiet alongside Walter. She didn't really like flying in the helicopter and swore to herself that she would try harder to listen to Alucard so she could travel properly. She hoped that she hadn't imagined his message to her. Trust him. She wanted to. He wasn't trying to kill Integra was he?

She looked at Walter, piloting the copter. Storm clouds had pulled in making this a bumpy and nerve wracking flight. He looked so old and angry. She just couldn't take it. She longed for the companionable quiet of listening to music and cleaning guns. The three of them, just like friends. They were carrying a small arsenal in the back. Mainly to take out Master. She would have to figure out which side she was on when they got there.

-----------------------

A young, blonde vampire trotted in from a back room. She slid next to Katerina, whispered and left out the front doorway. Katerina nodded and smiled. Good, Alucard thought, now things are happening. Aside from squeezing Integra's bound hand, he couldn't think of a way to communicate with her without Katerina immediately knowing. He considered passing his Casull to her, but she couldn't hide it and the kick would throw it out of her hand with one shot. Even with both hands, her shooting glasses and a weaver stance, Integra couldn't handle his guns with any accuracy.

An older human male entered soon after. He was one of the Knights, although Alucard couldn't remember his name. He didn't particularly care. He'd kill him happily if given the chance.

"What role are you playing in this charade?" Integra asked as the older man hugged Katerina.

"Ah, Integra." He bowed toward her platform. "How lovely to see you again."

She snorted at him. God, I want a cigar, she thought. He was as fuzzy as the rest, but she would know his presence anywhere. All of the knights were exceedingly conceited, herself included, but he had an air that surpassed them all. He had access to information from all over England and had finagled himself into some sort of top role at MI-5. No wonder they'd volunteered some men to Hellsing.

"Alucard," the man turned to shake hands with the vampire. "How nice to see you again." The vampire grinned at him, but his arms remained crossed. "I have gone to some trouble to arrange this for you. You could show some courtesy, vampire."

Alucard looked down at Katerina standing next to the man. She shrugged and looked at the ritual table. He looked back at Integra.

"Do you want me to kill him, Master?" She was caught off guard, but stopped to think. The man looked a tad afraid, as if he only now realized that he was in a room full of vampires.

"Depends." She looked directly at the man. "Lord Smythe, release me."

"Of course not, Integra. I can't do that. You don't understand." He looked at Katerina. "Could we speed this up, please?"

Integra looked back to Alucard. He had both guns out now, held loosely in his hands. Looking relaxed, even pleased he said, "My sentiments exactly." In his mind he called out to Seras.

-----------------------

Seras had started to zone out in the swooping helicopter. Walter was on the radio with various municipal agencies.

I miss police work, she thought. I miss my friends in the unit. She closed her eyes as the image of all of them turning into ghouls and attacking her came. I was 'Kitten' to them. Now I've become a creature who can do that to other people, she mourned. I can't let myself succumb to that level. Her mind began to tingle.

_Police girl. Come now. Quickly._

He sent her as much information as he could about the fairgrounds, including the best place for them to land without being heard. He added that a Hellsing agent was on the ground somewhere.

_Do you have the cannon?_

"Of course, Master. Are you all right? Is Integra?"

She got no answer and no longer felt a connection.

"Walter, master Alucard says to come quickly." She said into the headphone mic.

He regarded her for a second. When he felt in control of himself again he asked, "What do you think we're doing?"

Seras nodded and passed along the information as best she could with the air navigation map.

"He must still be good," Seras interjected into the silence that fell.

"Or perhaps he can't kill Integra because of the magic and wants your help?" Walter was not prepared to give. "Alucard has been many things in his many years, but 'good' isn't one of them."

"Loyal is, though," she was not just defending him, but also herself.

"His loyalty is only due to the seal. Erase that and he is just an evil creature." Walter replied icily. He could kick himself for almost forgetting that over the past ten years. Now Integra was in danger.

"Would you?" He challenged her as he landed.

"I... what?"

"Kill her for him. If your- master," he spat the word out, "asked you to?"

Seras thought on that as the propellers began to slow. Would Master? She didn't think he could since that would be like using a weapon against his own master. Would she? No, impossible. She had disobeyed him when it came to drinking blood, she could disobey him on this as well.

"No." She answered as firmly as she could. Suddenly she was surrounded by stinging cords. She was bound tightly to the seat. Walter had the threads tightening around her body. It felt right to him, with this much anger in him, he was almost the killer of old.

"Too slow, Draculina."

"No, Walter! Walter, it's me." She looked at his face. The glass exaggerated a muderous eye. Cables sizzled where they met bare flesh. Silver imbued wires, thin as silk, but strong as steel. She was starting to panic now. These threads had gone through ghouls like a hot knife cutting through butter. "Walter. Stop hurting me. Can we please go rescue Integra?"

"Would you?" He repeated, almost losing himself to the need to pull hard and quick. She wasn't human after all; what's one more vampire kill? The muscles have memory and his screamed to be used.

"NO!" She stopped resisting her bonds and tried to relax. Since they were silver, she thought there was no way she could escape, but it was worth a try. Walter sighed, closed his eyes and released her before she could find out.

"Come along, Miss Victoria," he said taking off his headset as if nothing had happened. He moved behind the seats to get to the cases in the body of the helicopter. Seras realized that she had seen the Angel of Death in a way that few alive had. She pushed herself up out of the seat and followed him.

-----------------------

Waltham entered the tent through the performer's entryway in the back. He was being as stealthy as he could with a cumbersome flamethrower on his back. He'd been in worse situations against humans. Vampires had some increased senses, so he wasn't sure if stealth would do him any good. The answer came just a few seconds after the thought.

"Stop!"

Shit, he thought. A lanky male vamp stepped into the dark prop room.

"Are you the guy?"

That wasn't what Waltham expected. Handgun out, he was ready to try and take the vamp out before getting his throat torn.

"Name, human. Quick, before I eat you." A loopy, fanged grin illuminated in the hanging light.

"Waltham, Peter."

The vamp cocked his head, listening to something. "Yeah, we heard you were coming. Boss needs you."

Waltham was caught off guard, but his body acted right away and followed the vamp into the brightly lit tent. What he saw there made even less sense.

Integra. White gown. Tied to a sloping table in the center of the room. Alucard. Standing. Two guns trained on Lord Smythe and some dark haired lady. They were leaning against a table with candles, statues and bowls. Waltham made a quick mental calculation and moved for his flamethrower.

Smythe turned when he came in. He seemed relieved, as if one more human made him safer. Three vamps came in behind Waltham and trained their guns on Alucard and Integra.

"You may survive, Alucard, but will your master?" Smythe taunted. "I will have you either way."

Katerina turned to Smythe. "Mine, you mean. We work for you, but that was the deal." Smythe nodded, still not taking his eyes off of Alucard's guns.

"Think about it, you piece of trash," Alucard taunted. "If you kill the Hellsing girl, I am free. Can you bind me faster than I can kill you? What about you, stupid cow, do you expect him to bind undead together? We are impure souls. He will bind us both to himself."

Integra wished she had her glasses. She really wanted to see their faces. There were four new figures with guns gathered on her left and then the two almost straight across from them. She'd be hit in the crossfire if anyone got trigger happy. She knew that Alucard was still bound, but was he trying to get her killed? No, he could have put her in danger any number of times when she was a girl, why wait until now? For this princess he called a cow?

"I will gladly die to keep him from you, Smythe," she shouted.

Waltham wavered and lowered the nozzle on the flamethrower. What was going on here?

Katerina moved slowly away from Smythe. Alucard did not waver in his aim on the man. She began to move around the table, slowly, facing them as best she could. She looked over the table and began to move some of the items.

"Don't try that, Little Katt," Alucard said. "You need a human to cast those spells."

She looked at him and he felt a mental attack from her. He repelled her easily using his own mental defenses. No one else in the room noticed it. She hissed softly at him. Several of the vamps turned at the sound, then looked back at him.

"It looks like a Mexican standoff then," Smythe said in a strangely cheerful voice. "Perhaps we can negotiate."

Alucard tired of holding his guns. They wanted to be used and he wanted to kill. Preferably this silly human. He just couldn't risk getting Integra shot up.

"Negotiate with me, then," Integra said in her commanding voice.

"Ah, but your real job here is to die at just the right time, Integra dear," Smythe explained politely.


	19. Freedom Chapter 19

Freedom Chapter 18

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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_Seras?_

Almost there, Master.

_Find a back way. I need a count of the undead in the tent._

I'm trying, Two powerful vamps, four or five other vampires, loads of ghouls.

_I need a good count, Police Girl. Your mind is a quagmire!_

Seras stopped running for a moment. Walter, who had been behind her, stared.

"Miss Victoria, what's wrong?"

She stood with her eyes closed and reached out with her mind. She could see in her mind a circular space. She placed Alucard and Katerina in the space. Then three young vampires in the room. Two more were in a back room and one, quite a bit more powerful than those five, was moving fast towards her. About 10 ghouls were guarding the front of the space.

_Good._

She opened her eyes suddenly. Heading towards us? "Walter!" Seras shouldered him out of the way just in time as Pudgy came flying at them. She took an elbow to the head, but dodged his hands. His nails were clawing at air as she fell and roundhouse kicked him. She connected but he stood his ground. He grinned at her, drew a handgun and fired three times before Walter recovered and used his cables to snarl up the gun and Pudgy's arm.

I've been shot, she thought, at close range. She felt the hot lumps of lead in her arm, torso and leg. She waited for pain and death, but aside from some aching, she felt fine. Was she in shock? She stood, reaching for her Casull. Pudgy grabbed at the threads that he was caught in and pulled Walter to the ground. As he stood over the old man, Seras kicked him hard to the head. Blood spurted from his mouth as he turned to snarl at her.

"Pretty little thing thinks she can fight?" He jerked his way free of Walter's wires, severing the hand with the gun as he shrugged to a standing position. He still couldn't look intimidating; he just looked too nerdy for that. Still, he seemed unaffected by the loss of a limb, so he wasn't a wimp.

He went for a mental attack. Seras felt hot needles tear through her mind. She instinctively reached for her head. The Casull dropping with a clatter to the walkway. His laughter started soon after.

In her memory, she heard her Master imploring her to think her way out. Seras tried to block the rush of pain. She held out the memory of getting roses in the front of her thoughts. The pain eased slightly. She met Pudgy's eyes. All the good memories she could call up, she did. Her brain started tingling, but she shut him out. Fat lot of good that will do, she thought. If I block him out mentally, he can still get me with normal attacks. A ball of black force knocked into her stomach, as if to reinforce that she was out gunned. Gunned? What a lovely idea! She thought of her Casull and willed it to her hand. Pudgy closed the space between them with a lunge. Seras used her police training to avoid his attack and to get him off balance. He found himself in front of Walter's prone figure as Seras once again stood over him with her gun point blank, to his head. Only Father Anderson, the Vatican's regenerator, could survive that.

"Goodbye, Pudgy," she said and pulled the trigger. His brains decorated the air, before turning to dust.

---------------------

Katerina screamed. Alucard smiled a very unsettling smile.

"You killed him!" She stared at Alucard, as if she was just realizing that he didn't share her vision of their future. He shot her in the stomach with the Casull. He didn't want to kill her yet, but he was getting tired of not shooting things.

Smythe watched her falling over. "D...d...don't shoot me." He raised his hands automatically, before looking toward Waltham and the remaining vamps. "Help me out, you fools." They were dumbstruck, but Alucard was sure the vamps would get their orders as soon as Katerina recovered enough. Waltham looked at Integra.

"Orders, Sir Hellsing?" He asked.

Integra was unaware that she had any soldiers there. "Get me out of here, you dolt!"

Waltham looked to the Hellsing pet vampire. For the first time, he thought he saw some sign of intelligence in those evil red eyes.

"Keep your weapon on the trash, I'll free her." With a swish of air, Alucard's Casull and a glove were gone. He used his fingernails to cut through the ropes on one side. The Jackal didn't waver from Smythe. Integra set about freeing her other arm and leg.

Smythe turned a lighter shade of pale. Alucard approached him, putting away his Jackal and re-gloving his hands. "Master," he said, keeping his red eyes on the man. Smythe opened his mouth to speak, but Alucard continued, "You haven't given me permission to kill this filth yet."

That seemed to help the man find his voice. "Integra, you can't just kill another Knight!"

A hoarse laugh came from behind the vampire as she managed the last knot. "What was it you said I was to do tonight? To die at the right time?" Her head still hurt like a donkey had kicked it. She stumbled next to Alucard.

Smythe turned to the vampires with Waltham. "Do something," he implored. They shifted nervously. The one closest to Waltham looked away to the table where Katerina was now rising. She looked back at her servant and he nodded. Waltham knew that if he mistimed it, he would be dead. Heck, he might die anyway once the flames caught the tent fabric. Flames shot out as the second vampire turned on him. The third seemed smart enough to run out the back before the fire could catch him. Waltham tried to limit the flame, but the vampires didn't take well to being flambéed. They flailed about in their pain, before turning to dust. That was enough to get the walls and the fabric going. Waltham ran towards Integra and started to drag her out.

She tore her arm away from him to face Smythe and Alucard.

"Do it. However you like." Waltham looked as shocked as Smythe. He had assumed they would give his former boss to the authorities. That was the sort of place he thought Hellsing was. The good guys. Now it was Integra who was dragging him, though she could barely see. Seras and Walter came running through the burning back doorway. Walter ran to Integra. He and Waltham directed her out the front and through the ghoul guards. Some had fallen as their vampire controllers died, but there were still a few confused ones milling about. Gunshots rang out as the Hellsing troops arrived in the large transports.

Inside the tent, Seras rushed to Alucard as he held the trembling man. The sounds of soft chanting at the ritual table were drowned out by screams as Smythe tried to beg the vampires.

"Drink." Alucard held the man firmly in his hands and held him out to Seras.

She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding truck. Her hesitation angered him, but Alucard decided to reason with her. "He is dead either way. Let his warm blood unlock your powers." The man looked at her and shook his head, whimpering.

Her body started to move closer. Teeth bared, she closed in. She put her hands on his shoulders. Alucard bent the man and held him tight so that she could strike. She was so close, she could smell the expensive aftershave the man had used that morning. Her teeth aimed for his jugular. Her animal needs were fighting with her horror. No, she thought, I am more than this. I am not a monster. She pushed away. Alucard eased the man closer. Smythe passed out from fear.

A red light had begun to gather over the ritual table. It gleamed, reflecting the firelight that was gaining strength and speeding along the tent. The seals on the back of his gloves were starting to glow a matching red and the world was starting to become unreal.

Alucard wanted to watch Seras, but was distracted by the work Katerina was doing. He pushed the foolish 'blood bag' almost on top of her and let go. He looked back at the fire, now burning in unnatural colors to his eyes and figured they only had a few minutes to get outside.

"Releasing control art restriction to level three, level two, level one. Situation B. The Cromwell approval is now in effect. Hold release until targets are silenced."

He looked at Katerina. She was surrounded by the patterns of the seal. Glowing with wispy tendrils of gray smoke, she asked, "Why?" Her voice weak as her lungs were still trying to re-knit.

"I told you that only a human could do it. If a no-life king could control these magics, I would have done so a century ago."

To his eyes, she had turned orange with anger. "You traitor to your kind... you DOG!" He stood looking at her, letting himself appear more wolf than human, but some small remnant of his rational mind counted down the time to escape the very real flames that were threatening the structural integrity of the tent. Police Girl was no longer even trying to eat and sat watching the interaction.

Katerina started a mental attack. _Bad choice_, he sent that thought along with a torrent from his irrational mind. Somewhere among them, the exact pitch of the scream from the Hellsing cleaning woman who had wandered into his dungeon cell after he had suffered several months of 'redemptive' starvation at the hands of Abraham Van Helsing, leading them to tighten the bonds of the seal to include employees of the family. So many years ago. That scream had been a thing of beauty, even today he relished it as he included it in his onslaught of sights, sounds and thoughts. Katerina's scream was also lovely, but it didn't measure up. She was starting to cough up blood, though and that shook him from his reverie.

"Is that all you have? You Turk bastard! Gypsy whore! Is that it?"

Seras was shocked, but it unleashed a torrent of curses from the other vampire, most of which were in languages that Seras couldn't understand. It ended with something that sounded like "...you dishonor the names Dracul and Tepes." Seras narrowed her eyes. She'd heard him called that before at the meeting.

_Go, now, Police Girl_.

Seras lifted the fallen Knight, still living but like dead weight, onto her shoulder and started to head out the only exit the fire hadn't torn into yet. She looked back.

Alucard walked towards Katerina, upending the table between them. He entered the red light surrounding her. Alucard embraced her, and then pulled away, looking down at her small frame. "Thank you, Princess." She searched his eyes, confused. His arm thrust quickly through her chest; his hand exiting with her heart. Seras thought he looked supremely happy.

His look changed when he turned and saw her. His eyes burned in an insane manner. No, she thought, we can't fight; we've got to escape. He strode up to her as if they weren't in a burning circus tent. He pointed at the man she carried. "It can' t be allowed to live." She shook her head, trying to decide if she should try to save the man.

Alucard plucked the man from her shoulder and tore him nearly in two. He dropped the body in front of her. Blood and entrails showered Seras. Alucard licked his fingers, turned and left her there, his shoulders slumping slightly. Targets eliminated, he communicated.


	20. Freedom Chapter 20 final

Freedom Chapter 20, Epilogue

By J.L. Pitard

Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...

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Seras couldn't shower enough to get that feeling off of her. Three days had passed, but she was still smelling it and trying to wash it off of her. She was also struggling with all her conflicting emotions. No sorrow for the dead man, he had brought this nightmare upon them all. She was angry with Alucard, but much more angry with herself. What was she? Could she just give up? Was she ready to die? Would God forgive her? She hugged herself and watched the water flow down the drain. What would Alucard think of her now? She had tried to stay out of everyone's way for the first few days, but now she needed to get some answers or she would go crazy.

A tentative knock on the door signaled the end of her shower. "Commander Seras?"

She remembered with a lurch in her stomach that even Walter was not on speaking terms with her anymore. The whole house seemed to be angry. Walter and Integra were moving in silence.

"Uh, I'm not hungry right now."

She toweled off as quickly as she could and got dressed. When she stepped out, the young Hellsing soldier, Brown, was still standing in her room, three medical bags on her table.

They looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Can I take these to Alucard?" She asked him. He looked a bit relieved. He'd told her the other morning that he'd been instructed to slip the platter through the metal gate in the door and leave. When he came back later, they were empty and on the tray.

No one but the young soldier was talking to her. Even her friends in the Wild Geese were freaked out as she rode back in the transport, rinsed off, but still filthy. "Has Master left his room?"

"Not that anyone knows about. Not since reporting back. They're all still mad at each other." Seras sighed. She would have to make the first move.

She took the tray and smiled as she heard the speed in Brown's footsteps. She went in the opposite direction.

There was a faint sound of music near his room. Good sign. She knocked on the door. The door opened, but no sign of Alucard. She went in. The door slammed shut. Seras jumped. The sound of Bach's Brandenburg #3 filled the room. She regained her composure and put the bags on top of his coffin. Her cell was spare, but his was nearly empty. A beautiful black casket, a tall chair, a wastebasket and a side table with an incongruous CD player on it were the only items.

Was he resting? Her fingers traced the letters on top. She would have to look up the quotation some day. "...The Bird Hermes is my Name...Eating my Wings to make me Tame." It was starting to make sense to her now.

He came up behind her. She sensed him, though she wasn't sure how to react. He passed her, picked up the first bag and began to pour it into a wine glass.

Alucard was dressed to go out. His tinted sunglasses in place. He offered her the glass, expecting her to refuse it. He smiled a true smile when she took it and sipped. He poured one for himself.

"Have you been resting or angry?" She blurted out.

He regarded her for a few moments. The music was very well played, he thought idly. "Both. You?"

"Oh!" She hadn't expected that. "I'm...I'm fine." She felt like such an idiot. Seras leaned against his coffin. She was very angry to be left in a burning tent with old man bits all about. Why couldn't she tell him that? She was angry that he was angry with her for not biting that old man. She drew a long breath by habit. The music was ending. They listened together and finished the bag in silence.

"Master?"

An eyebrow arched above his glasses.

"Was she sealed to Hellsing?"

He nodded. Silently, he walked to the CD player. It still bore the dents from his learning how to use it, but it played just fine. He switched the disc to one she had Walter order for him a few weeks before. Was that a peace gesture?

"How could you, um, dust her? Isn't it against the rules?"

He laughed. "Rules?"

She had been thinking about it the last few days and realized that about the only thing that seemed to keep her master bound was master himself.

He looked over his glasses at her.

He nodded at her unspoken thoughts. "Freedom comes in many forms, Police Girl. I am tied to the Hellsings, but she can't control me. She shies from the dark magics involved. She doesn't understand the seals on me."

"But why haven't you-"

"Why do you stay my servant?"

"Wha? Um, I don't know..."

"Yes you do, Draculina. Tell me." He put away his glasses.

"Fear. Um," she stopped and looked up, "it's all I know now... and," she looked away and whispered, as though his hearing couldn't pick it up, "love." She blushed as she looked up at him, "But you can' t feel any of those things."

His maniacal red eyes danced. He had missed her the last few days. Frustrating, but sometimes, as now, amusing. "It is enough to say that I have my own reasons, no?" He sat in his tall green chair, took off his gloves and patted his lap. "Come."

Seras was confused, but did as told. She sat gingerly, as if she might hurt his bony thighs.

"You took some bullets. Where?" She nodded and pointed at the places. He touched her body where she noted. Tenderly, as if the wounds hadn't yet healed. Being shot hadn't hurt much after the initial impact and shock.

"Lead." He said. She nodded again. "Such idiots! Did she really think..." He stopped, not wanting to let himself get upset. "It could've been worse, then. Why haven't you retrieved them?" She shook her head, confused as much by his gentle manner as his question. "We'll work on that when we can."

Alucard tossed his long black hair off of his neck. "Drink." A slow pulse beat under the perfect whiteness of his skin.

She recoiled and tried to stand, but he held her on his lap. He liked the feel of her skin struggling under his hands. The hot, clammy feel of the living repulsing him so. "But I am already dead, Police Girl." One arm held her to him, while the other hand rubbed up and down the length of her arm. "Your bite can't harm me. I am not struggling or whimpering."

His voice was warm, charming. It suggested an intimacy that wasn't entirely wholesome. She couldn't think of anything to say and tears were threatening to fall. "I'm not ready," she finally squeaked. She wanted him, his body and his blood, but she couldn't do it. Her fear of losing herself, and the little shred of who she once was, won out. It always did. He let her rest against his chest, pleased that things were back to normal between them as they listened to Robert Johnson sing the blues.

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Author's note:

The characterizations are based on both the manga and anime. I've based this sort of between the Valentine Bros and the Millennium attacks as I only had up to vol 3 in English (manga). I also wanted folks who loved the anime to enjoy it, but I really didn't like Incognito, so his story line is ignored.

This story came to me and was very insistent until I finished it. Then came the silly Incubus story, which I did quite quickly. There is another on its way, but I hope that will be it for Hellsing.

Thank you for reading so far! Thank you for all of the reviews. Please continue to critique, it's how we grow as writers.


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